# potato

Pronunciation: say "puh-TAY-toh" US /pəˈteɪ.toʊ/, UK /pəˈteɪ.təʊ/

## Noun

1. A starchy edible tuber that grows underground, or the nightshade plant (Solanum tuberosum) that produces it.
   - Simple: A starchy vegetable that grows underground and is cooked to eat, or the plant it grows on.
   - _She peeled a potato and dropped it into the simmering pot._
   - _Farmers harvested the potatoes before the first hard frost._
2. A low-quality or underpowered device, such as a slow computer or a camera that takes blurry pictures. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A cheap or weak device, like a slow computer or a camera that takes bad pictures.
   - _The cheap tablet ran the app like a potato, lagging on every tap._
   - _Our office still issues these ancient potatoes instead of real workstations._
3. A person or animal shaped like a potato, with a large belly or short, stubby legs.
   - Simple: A person or animal with a round body and short legs, looking a bit like a potato.
   - _The waddling penguin was an adorable potato on the ice._
   - _Grandpa called himself a potato whenever his belly outgrew his belt._
6. An offensive slang word for a person with an intellectual disability. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A rude and hurtful word for a person with an intellectual disability.
   - _The coach benched a player who had mocked his teammate's intellectual disability by calling him a potato._
   - _The camp counselor overheard a camper calling a boy with Down syndrome a potato and stepped in at once._
7. A conspicuous hole worn through a sock or stocking, big enough to show the skin beneath. *(colloquial, UK)*
   - Simple: A large, obvious hole worn through a sock or stocking.
   - _Mum sighed at the potato in my school sock and fetched the darning needle._
   - _By the end of term every sock he owned had a potato at the heel._

## Noun

4. A sweet potato: the trailing vine Ipomoea batatas or its sweet, edible tuberous root. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The sweet potato, a sweet root with orange, pale or purple flesh that grows underground.
5. A person or thing regarded as having little worth or importance. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A person or thing seen as worthless or not important.

## Other meanings

- (verb) In professional wrestling, to hit an opponent for real rather than in a staged way, especially with a hard blow to the head.
- (verb) To strike someone or something with a potato that is thrown or launched at them.
- (interjection) The deep, throaty, rhythmic exhaust note produced by a V-twin engine, imitated as a repeated 'potato' sound.

## Origin

The Taíno word batata ("sweet potato") was taken into Spanish as patata, and English borrowed it from Spanish.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/potato (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).