sweet potato

noun

1. a plant, Ipomoea batatas, of the morning glory family, grown for its sweet, edible, tuberous roots.
2. the root itself, used as a vegetable.
3. Informal. ocarina.

sweet potato

noun

1. a convolvulaceous twining plant, Ipomoea batatas, of tropical America, cultivated in the tropics for its edible fleshy yellow root
2. the root of this plant

Word History and Origins

Origin of sweet potato¹

An Americanism dating back to 1740–50

Example Sentences

Once a month, City Harvest, in partnership with the school, will distribute free bags of nutritious, versatile produce, like sweet potatoes, apples, and onions to students.

From Salon

So at Gjelina, you’re like, “Let’s get the sweet potatoes as a snack,” because it’s a bottomless pit day on Sunday.

From Los Angeles Times

Last year, Hugo watched a friend die in a vast field of sweet potatoes, his lifeless body leaning against a truck tyre – one of few shaded areas on the sweltering North Carolina farm.

From BBC

This is before we watch her make the cheese, bake the bread and whip up the butter from fresh cream, along with preparing an acorn squash and sweet potato soup and roasting some fish.

From Salon

Taylor fondly impersonates the roving sweet potato vendor who shouted into his loudspeaker: “All you little children playing in the sand, go tell your mama, ‘Here’s the Sweet Potato Man!’”

From Los Angeles Times