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goober

 - 5 dictionary results

goo⋅ber

  [goo-ber]
Use goober in a Sentence
–noun South Midland and Southern U.S.
the peanut.
Also called goober pea.

Origin:
1825–35; of Afr orig.; cf. Kimbundu nguba peanut
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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goo·ber   (gōō'bər)   
n.   Chiefly Southern U.S.
See peanut.

[Of Bantu origin; akin to Kongo or Kimbundu n-guba.]
Most Southerners recognize the terms goober and goober pea as other names for the peanut. Goober is related to Kongo or Kimbundu n-guba, "peanut." The word is especially interesting as one of a small stock of African language borrowings brought over by slaves. Most of these words have to do with the food items imported from Africa for the slaves to eat. In this category are gumbo, "okra," which is of Bantu origin, and yam, which is of West African origin. The noun cooter is related to the Mandingo word kuta and the Tshiluba word nkudu, both meaning "turtle." Cooter is still used in South Carolina, Georgia, and the Gulf states to denote the edible freshwater turtle of the genus Chrysemys and, by extension, other turtles and tortoises.
pea·nut   (pē'nŭt')   
n.  

  1. A prostrate southern Brazilian plant (Arachis hypogaea) widely cultivated in tropical and warm temperate regions, having yellow flowers on stalks that bend over so that the seed pods ripen underground.

  2. The edible, nutlike, oily seed of this plant, used for food and as a source of oil. Also called regionally goober, goober pea.

  3. A peanut-shaped piece of polystyrene, used in cushioning items during shipment.

  4. Slang

    1. A person small in stature.

    2. A person who is regarded as being insignificant.

  5. peanuts Informal A very small amount of money; a trifling sum.

adj.   Slang
Having little or no importance; insignificant: peanut politicians.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
guber [ˈgubɚ]

and goober
  1. n.
    a facial pimple. (See also goob.) : How does anybody get rid of goobers?
  2. n.
    a tumor. (Jocular medical slang. Possibly because it grows beneath the surface like the goober—the peanut. See also boogie.) : The patient with the abdominal guber is going into surgery now.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

goober 
"peanut," 1833, Amer.Eng., of African origin, perhaps Bantu (cf. Kikongo and Kimbundu nguba "peanut").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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