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

As an illustration, sublimely fresh Dungeness crab might be matched with earthy sweet potato and buttery sauce Maltaise, tinted vividly blush-colored with blood orange and beet. — Jim Dobson, Forbes.com, 25 June 2026

Other orange or yellow plants like sweet potato, cantaloupe, pumpkin and winter squash work the same way carrots do. — Samantha Agate, Sacbee.com, 24 June 2026

An audacious menu that includes a shroom pizza with potato sticks and a pear and sweet potato combo with goat cheese. — Peter St. Onge updated June 24, Charlotte Observer, 24 June 2026

One has eggs, bacon, potato and cheese and the other is vegan (soyrizo, black bean, kale, sweet potato, vegan mozzarella). — Noelle Alviz-Gransee, Kansas City Star, 22 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1750, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for sweet potato

• adagio
• altiplano
• arapaho
• arapahoe
• fortissimo
• manifesto
• 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