sweet potato

noun

1

: a tropical vine (Ipomoea batatas) of the morning-glory family that is often grown for its edible tuberous root or for its ornamental variously shaped green to purple leaves and usually white to pinkish funnel-shaped flowers with pink to purple centers

also : the large thick sweet and nutritious tuberous root of the sweet potato that has beige, yellow, orange, red, or purple flesh and is cooked and eaten as a vegetable compare yam sense 2

2

: ocarina

Examples of sweet potato in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Grow your own sweet potato transplants in water or a pot of soil for the garden. 57. —Tom MacCubbin, The Orlando Sentinel, 26 Apr. 2025

There were also things like gluten-free sweet potato wraps, multigrain pancake mix, and green juices. —Carina Finn, Bon Appetit Magazine, 24 Apr. 2025

Pots hold trailing purple sweet potato vine, bushy yellow 'Rock 'N Low' sedum, and a tall citronella-scented geranium that fit right in with the yellow wax bells and black-eyed Susans on the other side of the low stone wall. —Mike Irvine, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 Apr. 2025

As far as fries go, Flower Child offers roasted sweet potato fries, served with buttermilk yogurt ranch. —Samantha Husted, Charlotte Observer, 21 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1750, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for sweet potato

• adagio
• altiplano
• arapaho
• arapahoe
• manifesto
• medicago
• minangkabau
• oregano
• ostinato
• pistachio
• politico
• portfolio

Kids Definition

sweet potato

noun

1

: a tropical vine related to the morning glories and having variously shaped leaves and purplish flowers

also : its large sweet starchy root that is cooked and eaten as a vegetable

2

: ocarina