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Definition of sweet potato

sweet potato

Plural:sweet potatoes
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• noun

1

The large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous root of a trailing vine, featuring smooth skin and flesh that ranges from white to deep orange, commonly cooked and eaten as a vegetable.

Example

"We roasted a sweet potato and served it with a dash of cinnamon and brown sugar."

2

The tropical American vine (Ipomoea batatas) in the morning glory family that produces these edible tubers.

Example

"The farmer planted sweet potato slips in the loamy soil to ensure a bountiful harvest before the first frost."

Synonyms
View all synonyms for sweet potato

Word Nuance & Usage

In the United States and Canada, the sweet potato is often colloquially, but botanically incorrectly, referred to as a 'yam', which is actually a completely unrelated starchy tuber native to Africa and Asia.

• Nearby Words

sweet pea
sweet pepper
sweet pepperbush
sweet potato
sweet potato vine
sweet spire
sweet sultan

Usage Trend

Historical frequency of usage in published text.

180019102020
Data source: Google Books Ngram Viewer

Cite this Entry

Wordmom. (2026). Definition of Sweet potato. In Wordmom Dictionary. Retrieved Nov 5, 2026, from https://wordmom.com/dictionary/sweet-potato
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