poi

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noun \ ˈpȯi \

Definition of poi

plural poi or pois

:a Hawaiian food prepared from the cooked corms of taro that are mashed with water to the consistency of a paste or thick liquid and often allowed to ferment

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Recent Examples of poi from the Web

Their one-year-old daughter, Finley, subsists largely on homegrown poi.

— Longreads, "Hard Lessons in Living Off the Grid," 8 Aug. 2017
Also flown in is the poi, or taro root paste, and the fresh hearts of palm, which are served pickled, roasted, fresh and fermented.

— joshua david stein, sacbee, "At SF site, Hawaiian fare is served (but pineapple is not)," 5 Aug. 2017
Also flown in is the poi, or taro root paste, and the fresh hearts of palm, which are served pickled, roasted, fresh and fermented.

— joshua david stein, sacbee, "At SF site, Hawaiian fare is served (but pineapple is not)," 5 Aug. 2017
Also flown in is the poi, or taro root paste, and the fresh hearts of palm, which are served pickled, roasted, fresh and fermented.

— joshua david stein, New York Times, "A San Francisco Restaurant Serving Hawaiian Cuisine (Hold the Pineapple)," 4 Aug. 2017
The root can be prepared and served like a potato or in traditional dishes such as poi, and the leaves are often used to wrap fish or pork in a Hawaiian dish called laulau.

— eva botkin-kowacki, The Christian Science Monitor, "Using a taro patch in Hawaii, this couple teaches the islands’ values to youths," 13 July 2017
Joining Owens at Waterfront Park, a couple of jugglers, several hoopers, a guy spinning poi balls (unlit fireballs on thin rope) and 24-year-old John Mark Hummel, was spinning a staff.

— kirby adams, USA TODAY, "This is not your mother's hula hoop," 24 June 2017
Last summer, the iconic Liliha Bakery in Honolulu introduced a poi mochi doughnut.

— chaney kwak, Bon Appetit, "This Tropical Plant Wants to Be Your New Gluten-Free Flour," 23 Mar. 2017
In Hawaiian cuisine, taro root is commonly pounded into a mash and served as poi.

— chaney kwak, Bon Appetit, "This Tropical Plant Wants to Be Your New Gluten-Free Flour," 23 Mar. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'poi.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.