sweet potato

noun

|Updated on: 12 Jul 2018

Definition of sweet potato

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 2

2 : ocarina

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Recent Examples of sweet potato from the Web

What to try: Order the tasty fried chicken dinner with cornbread and two sides, such as collard greens and sweet potatoes, or enjoy your fried chicken in a sandwich.

— kellie hwang, azcentral, "It's National Fried Chicken Day! Phoenix restaurants for best fried chicken," 6 July 2018
Where other types of rolls are often fried and filled with pork and shrimp, these are layered in softened rice pancakes with asparagus, sweet potato, cucumber, mint, basil, and thin rice noodles.

— karoline boehm goodnick, BostonGlobe.com, "Recipe: Vietnamese summer rolls are flavorful, crunchy, and delicious with a soy dipping sauce," 25 June 2018
And for dessert, a choice of peach cobbler, sweet potato pie, chocolate cake or lemon cake.

— joyce smith, kansascity, "New Troost restaurant offers fried fish, sweet potato pie and more | The Kansas City Star," 14 May 2018
Must-try menu items, besides the decadent fried chicken, include the baked beans, fried okra, mac and cheese, and sweet potato pie.

— craig hlavaty, Houston Chronicle, "Houston's first Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken nears opening," 2 May 2018
Along with their lime-green sisters, ornamental sweet potatoes have become some of our most popular bordering annuals.

— neil sperry, star-telegram, "Passionate about purple? Here are Neil's favorite ways to add it to the landscape | Fort Worth Star-Telegram," 20 Apr. 2018
On one Polynesian island, archaeologists have found sweet potato remains dating back over 700 years.

— carl zimmer, New York Times, "All by Itself, the Humble Sweet Potato Colonized the World," 12 Apr. 2018
Other Signature Sweets items include his caramel stuffed chocolate chip cookies, sweet potato pie cinnamon rolls and fried banana pudding that has homemade vanilla wafers and vanilla bean whipped cream.

— francine knowles, Daily Southtown, "South Holland man has recipe for pastry success," 10 Apr. 2018
Freddie Brandon was known for her Easter dinners featuring a menu her family could recite by heart: turkey wings, ham, greens, macaroni and cheese, sweet potato pie.

— maya lau, latimes.com, "Family looks for answers in killing of Hyde Park woman, 78," 1 Apr. 2018

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