Potato Definition Potato Definition 1

Potato (noun) — a root vegetable, which has been powering kitchens and stomachs across the globe over the course of centuries. It is a food that you can mash, roast, fry or bake and never fails in putting anyone in a good mood.

Potatoes have quite a kick of nutrition and energy. It is no wonder that they are stapled to tables all over the world.

Part of speech:
Noun (countable)
Phonetic transcription (IPA):
/pəˈteɪ.təʊ/
CEFR level:
A1
Word frequency:

How to Pronounce “Potato”?

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Tips for potato pronunciation: 

It is stressed on the second syllable as tay — give a little bit of an extra kick and emphasize it as more than clear.

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Examples: How to Use “Potato” in a Sentence?

Find out how the word potato creeps into everyday vocabulary with such mouth-watering examples:

The soil held secrets of golden potatoes, waiting patiently beneath the surface.

Crispy potato chips exploded like tiny fireworks with every bite.

The mashed potatoes were very creamy and melted in his mouth.

The kitchen was in the old farmhouse where was always a basket of potatoes.

She peeled the potato with such care, like unwrapping a secret gift from the earth.

What Are Synonyms for the Word “Potato”?

In technical terms, not a lot. Potato word is an independent term, but there are dish-specific or colloquial terms involved in some cases or in cooking. Most substitutes emphasize the manner in which we call it in our dialogues.

Related nouns: sprud root vegetable starch crop

Synonyms (contextual): none (potato is a specific noun)

Common collocations: mashed potato baked potato potato chips potato salad potato patch

“Potato” Word Formation and Description in Context

The tomato description is clear from the sentence you read above, yet it can also be combined with other parts of speech for more information to provide. Here is how it works:

With adjectives: tender potato small potato starchy potato roasted potato

With verbs: plant potatoes harvest potatoes cook potatoes serve potatoes

With nouns (noun + noun): potato farm potato peeler potato dish potato harvest

Idioms and Phrases with “Potato”

Now that we have uncovered the definition of potato, it is time to deep-fry some of the expressions where this vegetable stands out.

  • Couch potato — someone who is lazy and sits and spends much of his/her time watching television.

      The post-holiday me became a complete couch potato, marathon-viewing crime dramas.
  • Small potatoes — A trivial or minor thing as compared with something greater.

      That refund is small potatoes compared to recent losses that the company was incurring.
  • Meat and potatoes — The very basic elements of something.

      I would like to skip the introductions and get to the meat and potatoes of this meeting.
  • Drop like a hot potato — To dismiss quickly something or someone who is thought to be inconvenient or risky.

      When the scandal broke, the sponsors dropped him like a hot potato.

Test Your Knowledge of Potato Meaning – Quiz Time!

Having in mind the nice and toasty potato meaning, let us chip in some speedy questions.

Type 1: True/false statements:
Choose the correct answer:
1
You can eat the leaves of a potato plant.
2
Potato is both a countable and uncountable noun.
3
All potatoes are yellow on the inside.
Type 2: Right word order:
Put these grape-tastic words in order:
1
potatoes
love
I
mashed
buttery
2
a
made
jacket
lunch
for
She
potato
3
the
forgot
He
peel
to
potatoes
Type 3: Choose the correct option
Select the one closest in meaning to potato in English:
1
She served crispy roasted potatoes with rosemary. What are “roasted potatoes”?
2
He ordered a side of mashed potatoes with his steak. What does “mashed potatoes” mean here?
3
She ordered a loaded baked potato. What does “loaded” suggest in this context?

Enjoy personalized learning!

“Potato” Word in Other Languages

The word potato takes many forms — here’s how to say potato in three major languages.

Language Word for “Potato”
Flag Spanish Spanish   Patata / Papa
Flag French French   Pomme de terre
Flag German German   Kartoffel

Did You Know It? Fun Facts About “Potato”

The potato in English can be terribly unassuming, but the comfort food that we know today, has a history of space travel, royal feeding and fame all over the world.

  • The first vegetable to be grown in space was potatoes.

    NASA and the University of Wisconsin-Madison became the first people to cultivate potatoes in space when they sent potatoes into space on the Space Shuttle Columbia in the year 1995. The astronauts required good sources of food, and potatoes were just the right thing.
  • The world has more than 4,000 types of potatoes.

    The potato family is kooky diverse: spuds go anywhere between the creamy Yukon Gold and the dark purple Peruvian Purple. Each type is different in taste, texture and the dish in which to serve.
  • The largest potato in the world was bigger than a small dog.

    The UK cultivator Peter Glazebrook achieved the heaviest weight of a potato ever recorded: 4.98 kg (10 lb 15 oz). On 4 September 2011, it was officially weighed at the National Gardening Show, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, and holds the place in Guinness World Records.
  • At a certain moment in history, people were afraid of potatoes and they were even prohibited.

    In France in the 18th century, potatoes were viewed as being poisonous and not suitable to be eaten by humans. This changed when a pharmacist Antoine Parmentier popularised their use to the point of even inviting royalty to dinners with loaded potato dishes to make them accept their use.

Famous Quotes Featuring “Potato”

To define potato more colorfully, it should be well done by revealing the cultural, emotional and historical burden it holds.

  Papa, potatoes, poultry, prunes and prism, are all very good words for the lips.

Charles Dickens

Explanation: The author means that this is what feels good to say, to kiss lips with lips, not in a harsh way, in a tender, satisfying oral part of the body. Meanwhile, the words are easy to pronounce and have some connections with comfort and home life, being thus nice to pronounce and emotionally warm.

  My dream is to become a farmer. Just a Bohemian guy pulling up his own sweet potatoes for dinner.

— Lenny Kravitz

Explanation: The speaker fantasizes about his quiet life, wants to be a farmer living off the land. Using the word “Bohemian guy” to describe himself implies that he desires to live a nonconformist, free life.

  Look at that moon. Potato weather for sure.

— Thornton Wilder, Our Town

Explanation: The weather in which you described the potatoes as being grown, in the cool crisp weather, and which is just fine weather to store potatoes, or at least when we were growing potatoes, is what is termed a favorable weather, or, as it is colloquially called, a potato weather.