POTATO
potato, white potato, Irish potato, murphy, spud, tater
(noun) an edible tuber native to South America; a staple food of Ireland
potato, white potato, white potato vine, Solanum tuberosum
(noun) annual native to South America having underground stolons bearing edible starchy tubers; widely cultivated as a garden vegetable; vines are poisonous
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
potato (plural potatoes)
The tuber of a plant, Solanum tuberosum, eaten as a starchy vegetable, particularly in the Americas and Europe; this plant.
(informal, UK) A conspicuous hole in a sock or stocking
(humorous) A camera that takes poor-quality pictures.
(slang, offensive) A mentally handicapped person.
(humorous, slang, computing) An underpowered computer or other device, especially when small in size.
Synonyms
• (plant): p'tater (dialectal), spud (slang), tater (Britain), tatie (Scotland, Cumbria, dialect), tator (eye dialect)
• (vegetable): earthapple (rare)
Anagrams
• patoot
Source: Wiktionary
Po*ta"to, n.; pl. Potatoes. Etym: [Sp. patata potato, batata sweet
potato, from the native American name (probably batata) in Hayti.]
(Bot.)
(a) A plant (Solanum tuberosum) of the Nightshade family, and its
esculent farinaceous tuber, of which there are numerous varieties
used for food. It is native of South America, but a form of the
species is found native as far north as New Mexico.
(b) The sweet potato (see below). Potato beetle, Potato bug. (Zoöl.)
(a) A beetle (Doryphora decemlineata) which feeds, both in the larval
and adult stages, upon the leaves of the potato, often doing great
damage. Called also Colorado potato beetle, and Doryphora. See
Colorado beetle. (b) The Lema trilineata, a smaller and more slender
striped beetle which feeds upon the potato plant, bur does less
injury than the preceding species.
– Potato fly (Zoöl.), any one of several species of blister beetles
infesting the potato vine. The black species (Lytta atrata), the
striped (L. vittata), and the gray (L. cinerea, or Fabricii) are the
most common. See Blister beetle, under Blister.
– Potato rot, a disease of the tubers of the potato, supposed to be
caused by a kind of mold (Peronospora infestans), which is first seen
upon the leaves and stems.
– Potato weevil (Zoöl.), an American weevil (Baridius trinotatus)
whose larva lives in and kills the stalks of potato vines, often
causing serious damage to the crop.
– Potato whisky, a strong, fiery liquor, having a hot, smoky taste,
and rich in amyl alcohol (fusel oil); it is made from potatoes or
potato starch.
– Potato worm (Zoöl.), the large green larva of a sphinx, or hawk
moth (Macrosila quinquemaculata); -- called also tomato worm. See
Illust. under Tomato.
– Seaside potato (Bot.), Ipomoea Pes-Capræ, a kind of morning-glory
with rounded and emarginate or bilobed leaves. [West Indies] -- Sweet
potato (Bot.), a climbing plant (Ipomoea Balatas) allied to the
morning-glory. Its farinaceous tubers have a sweetish taste, and are
used, when cooked, for food. It is probably a native of Brazil, but
is cultivated extensively in the warmer parts of every continent, and
even as far north as New Jersey. The name potato was applied to this
plant before it was to the Solanum tuberosum, and this is the
"potato" of the Southern United States.
– Wild potato. (Bot.) (a) A vine (Ipomoea pandurata) having a pale
purplish flower and an enormous root. It is common in sandy places in
the United States. (b) A similar tropical American plant (I.
fastigiata) which it is thought may have been the original stock of
the sweet potato.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition