tuber

/ˈtjuːbə(r)/ (bre, ipa) · [tˈubɚ] /ˈtuːbər/ (ame, ipa) · [tˈubɚ] /ˈtü-bər How to pronounce tuber (audio) ˈtyü-/ (ame, mw)

tuber — noun

  • tubersingular
  • tubersplural

1. an underground part of a plant that swells up as it fills with stored food. New

1.名詞B2
釋義

an underground part of a plant that swells up as it fills with stored food. New shoots can grow from buds on its surface. Potatoes and yams are the most familiar examples.

例句

Kofi dug up several large tubers from the vegetable patch in his garden.

collocation: dig up tubers

Potatoes, yams, and sweet potatoes are all examples of edible tubers.

listing common edible tubers

同義詞
  • bulb

    A bulb (like an onion or garlic) is a different kind of underground storage organ made of layered leaves, not solid fleshy tissue like a tuber.

  • corm

    A corm (like a taro root) is a solid underground stem base, similar to a tuber but typically shorter and rounder; the terms overlap in everyday cooking.

用法筆記

In everyday conversation, 'tuber' describes any thick underground plant part used for food storage, such as a potato or yam. Botanists make a finer distinction between stem tubers (potatoes) and root tubers (sweet potatoes, cassava).

常見錯誤

❌A carrot is a tuber.
✅A carrot is a root vegetable, not a tuber.
💡Carrots are taproots, not tubers; they store food differently and do not grow new plants from the root itself.
❌I ate a tuber for dinner.
✅I ate baked potatoes, which are a type of tuber, for dinner.
💡'Tuber' is a category name, not the name of a specific food.