po|ta|to

po|ta|to «puh TAY toh», noun, plural -toes.

1. a plant with a starchy tuber used as a vegetable. It originated in South America and belongs to the nightshade family. Potatoes have trumpet-shaped flowers that are white, bluish, or purplish.

2. this vegetable, which is round or oval, hard, and has a very thin skin; white potato; Irish potato. The potato is one of the most widely used vegetables in Europe and America.

3. = sweet potato. (Cf. ↑sweet potato)

4. Informal. a physically inactive person who often sits in one place for long periods. »

computer potato; beach potatoes lounging on the sand.

= couch potato. (Cf. ↑couch potato)

╂[< Spanish patata < Carib (perhaps Taino) batata sweet potato; couch potato]