: any of a genus (Nicotiana) of chiefly American plants of the nightshade family with viscid foliage and tubular flowers
especially: a tall erect annual tropical American herb (N. tabacum) cultivated for its leaves
2
: the leaves of cultivated tobacco prepared for use in smoking or chewing or as snuff
3
: manufactured products of tobacco (such as cigars or cigarettes)
also: smoking as a practice
has sworn off tobacco
4
: a moderate brown
Illustration of tobacco
tobacco 1
Examples of tobacco in a Sentence
a farm that grows tobacco
a state tax on tobacco
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As long as cannabis is treated differently from alcohol, tobacco or pharma, the U.S. will keep forfeiting ground.—Javier Hasse, Forbes.com, 1 May 2025 Part of the problem is that the legal vapes come in just two flavors: menthol and tobacco.—Nicholas Florko, The Atlantic, 30 Apr. 2025 Beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes and tobacco cannot be purchased with food stamps, as well as other nonfood items like pet foods and cleaning supplies.—Mandy Taheri
gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Apr. 2025 Andrew Harnik | Getty Images Kennedy is consolidating divisions and slashing 10,000 jobs at HHS, a $1.7 trillion agency that oversees vaccines and other medicines, scientific research, public health infrastructure, pandemic preparedness, and food and tobacco products.—Annika Kim Constantino, CNBC, 30 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for tobacco
Word History
Etymology
Spanish tabaco, probably from Taino, roll of tobacco leaves
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