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potato

[puh-tey-toh, -tuh]

noun, plural -toes.

Also called Irish potato, white potato. the edible tuber of a cultivated plant, Solanum tuberosum, of the nightshade family.

the plant itself.

sweet potato (defs. 1, 2).

Origin:
1545–55; < Spanish patata white potato, variant of batata sweet potato < Taino

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To potato

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Potato is always a great word to know.

So is gobo. Does it mean:

a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.

a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

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Example Sentences

This dish is a good choice if you prefer a not-too-sweet style of baked sweet potatoes.

Nothing more than good olive oil and crunchy sea salt turn super-simple potatoes into an irresistible side dish.

It's approaching the time for me to dig my hands in there and harvest a few new potatoes (potatoes with flaky skin).

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Collins

World English Dictionary

potato (pəˈteɪtəʊ)

—n , pl -toes
1.	Irish potato, Also called: white potato
	a. a solanaceous plant, Solanum tuberosum, of South America: widely cultivated for its edible tubers
	b. the starchy oval tuber of this plant, which has a brown or red skin and is cooked and eaten as a vegetable
2.	any of various similar plants, esp the sweet potato
3.	slang hot potato a delicate or awkward matter

[C16: from Spanish patata white potato, from Taino batata sweet potato]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

potato

1565, from Sp. patata, from Carib (Haiti) batata "sweet potato." Sweet potatoes were first to be introduced to Europe; in cultivation in Spain by mid-16c.; in Virginia by 1648. Early 16c. Port. traders carried the crop to all their shipping ports and the sweet potato was quickly adopted from Africa to

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India and Java. The name later (1597) was extended to the common white potato, from Peru, which was at first (mistakenly) called Virginia potato, or, because at first it was of minor importance compared to the sweet potato, bastard potato. Sp. invaders in Peru began to use white potatoes as cheap food for sailors 1536. The first potato from South America reached Pope Paul III in 1540; grown in France at first as an ornamental plant. According to popular tradition, introduced to Ireland 1565 by John Hawkins. Brought to England from Colombia by Sir Thomas Herriot, 1586. Ger. kartoffel (17c.) is a dissimilation from tartoffel, ult. from It. tartufolo (V.L. *territuberem), originally "truffle." Frederick II forced its cultivation on Prussian peasants in 1743. The Fr. is pomme de terre, lit. "earth-apple;" a Swed. dialectal word for "potato" is jordpäron, lit. "earth-pear." Colloquial pronunciation tater is attested in print from 1759. To drop (something) like a hot potato is from 1846. Children's counting-out rhyme that begins one potato, two potato first recorded 1885 in Canada.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

potato definition

n.
the head. : Put your hat on your potato, and let's get out of here.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

potato

see hot potato; meat and potatoes; small beer (potatoes).