potato

1. [uncountable and countable] a round white vegetable with a brown, red, or pale yellow skin, that grows under the ground
roast/fried/boiled/mashed potato
jacket potato (=cooked in its skin)
Marie stood at the sink, peeling potatoes (=cutting off the skin).
2. [countable] a plant that produces potatoes
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ peel potatoes (=cut the skin off them) Peel and slice the potatoes.
▪ slice potatoes (=cut them into long thin pieces)
▪ dice potatoes (=cut them into small square pieces)
▪ mash potatoes (=crush them until they are smooth, after boiling them)
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + potato
▪ boiled potatoes Serve with plain boiled potatoes.
▪ mashed potato(es) (=boiled and crushed until smooth) I like sausages with mashed potatoes.
▪ roast potatoes (=cooked in an oven with fat) traditional roast beef with roast potatoes
▪ a baked/jacket potato (=cooked in its skin) We cooked baked potatoes in the embers of the fire.

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

potato

po·tato [potato potatoes] [pəˈteɪtəʊ] [pəˈteɪtoʊ] noun

countable, uncountable (pl. po·tatoes)
a round white vegetable with a brown or red skin that grows underground as the root of a plant also called a potato
• Will you peel the potatoes for me?
• roast/boiled/baked/fried potatoes

Word Origin:
mid 16th cent.: from Spanish patata, variant of Taino batata ‘sweet potato’. The English word originally denoted the sweet potato and gained its current sense in the late 16th cent.
Example Bank:
• a plate of fried potato skins
• baked potatoes with sour cream and chives

• potatoes baked in their jackets

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition

potato / pəteɪ.təʊ /    / -t̬oʊ / noun [ C or U ] ( plural potatoes )

potato A1 a round vegetable which grows underground and has white flesh with light brown, red, or pink skin, or the plant on which these grow:
boiled/roasted/fried potatoes
mashed potato/mashed potatoes

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary

potato

[pəte͟ɪtoʊ]
♦♦♦
potatoes
1) N-VAR Potatoes are quite round vegetables with brown or red skins and white insides. They grow under the ground.

2) PHRASE: N inflects You can refer to a difficult subject that people disagree on as a hot potato.
...a political hot potato such as abortion.

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary:

potato

po·ta·to /pəˈteɪtoʊ/ noun, pl -toes
1 : a round root of a plant that has brown, yellow, or red skin and white or yellow flesh and that is eaten as a vegetable

[count]

• baked/mashed/roasted/boiled potatoes

[noncount]

• slices of potato
• mashed potato
• potato salad

- see also jacket potato, sweet potato
2 [count] : the plant that produces potatoes
• She's growing carrots and potatoes in her garden this year.

- see also couch potato, hot potato, meat and potatoes, small potatoes