sweet potato

sweet potato — noun

1. a long root vegetable with pink, orange, or purple skin and soft yellow or orang

1.名詞A2
釋義

a long root vegetable with pink, orange, or purple skin and soft yellow or orange flesh that tastes naturally sweet; often roasted, baked, mashed, or used in soups and desserts

例句

Valentina baked two sweet potatoes in the oven for forty minutes.

baked sweet potato cooking method

The street vendor in Taipei roasted sweet potatoes over hot coals.

roasted sweet potatoes as a street food

同義詞
  • yam

    in US English the two names are often mixed up, but a true yam is a different, drier, starchier root vegetable from Africa and Asia

  • kumara

    New Zealand English term for the same root; common in supermarkets and restaurants there

文法句型

a sweet potato

sweet potatoes

roasted/baked/mashed sweet potato

用法筆記

Often confused with yams in everyday speech, especially in the United States; in most countries, what supermarkets label as 'yam' is actually a sweet potato variety. The plant itself is the climbing vine Ipomoea batatas, but the word 'sweet potato' usually refers to the edible root rather than the whole plant.

常見錯誤

❌Sweet potato is a kind of potato.
✅Sweet potato looks like a potato but is a different plant.
💡Despite the name, it is not related to the ordinary potato; they belong to different plant families.

2. an ocarina; a small wind instrument shaped a bit like an egg or a sweet potato,

2.名詞C1
釋義

an ocarina; a small wind instrument shaped a bit like an egg or a sweet potato, with finger holes and a mouthpiece, that makes a soft, hollow sound

例句

Christopher pulled a clay sweet potato from his jacket and played a folk tune.

informal name for an ocarina

At the campfire, Talia taught the children to blow into a small sweet potato.

play a sweet potato + blow into it

同義詞
  • ocarina

    the standard, formal name; used in music classes, sheet music, and shops

文法句型

play a/the sweet potato

用法筆記

This is informal, mostly older American slang and now uncommon; the standard word is 'ocarina'. The name comes from the instrument's egg-like, sweet-potato-like shape. Use this sense only in casual contexts; in writing or formal speech, prefer 'ocarina'.

常見錯誤

❌I play the sweet potato in the school orchestra.
✅I play the ocarina in the school orchestra.
💡In formal or musical contexts, 'ocarina' is the standard name; 'sweet potato' for the instrument is dated, informal slang.