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tomatillo

[ toh-muh-tee-oh, -teel-yoh ]
/ ˌtoʊ məˈti oʊ, -ˈtil yoʊ /
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noun, plural to·ma·til·loes, to·ma·til·los.
a plant, Physalis ixocarpa, of the nightshade family, native to Mexico, having yellow flowers with five blackish spots in the throat and bluish, sticky berries in a purple-veined calyx.

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Also called Mexican ground cherry.

Origin of tomatillo

1910–15; <Spanish, diminutive of tomatetomato
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use tomatillo in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for tomatillo

tomatillo
/ (tɒməˈtɪləʊ, -ˈtiːjəʊ) /

noun
a solanaceous plant, Physalis ixocarpa, of South America
the greenish-purple fruit of this plant that is a staple in Mexican cuisineAlso called: green tomato
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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