Definition of 'tuber'
Word forms: plural tubers
countable noun
A tuber is the swollen underground stem of particular types of plants.
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word Frequency
tuber in British English
noun
1.
a fleshy underground stem (as in the potato) or root (as in the dahlia) that is an organ of vegetative reproduction and food storage
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
C17: from Latin tūber hump
Word Frequency
tuber in American English
noun
1.
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
L, lit., a swelling, knob, truffle < IE *teubh- < base *tēu-, to swell > thumb, L tumere, to swell
Word Frequency
tuber in American English 1
(ˈtuːbər, ˈtjuː-)
noun
1. Botany
a fleshy, usually oblong or rounded thickening or outgrowth, as the potato, of a subterranean stem or shoot, bearing minute scalelike leaves with buds or eyes in their axils from which new plants may arise
2. Anatomy
a rounded swelling or protuberance; a tuberosity; a tubercle
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
tuberless adjective
tuberoid
adjective
Word origin
[1660–70; ‹ L tūber bump, swelling. Compare truffle]Word Frequency
tuber in American English 2
(ˈtuːbər, ˈtjuː-)
noun
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Word origin
[1920–25; tube + -er1]Examples of 'tuber' in a sentence
tuber
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Word lists with
tuber
terms used in botanyQuick word challenge
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a germ cell, seed, dormant bacterium, or similar body
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a swelling on the root of a leguminous plant, such as the pea or clover, that contains bacteria of the genus Rhizobium, capable of nitrogen fixation
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the terminal part of a stamen consisting usually of two lobes each containing two sacs in which the pollen matures
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the stalk of a carpel, bearing the stigma
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the loose cells at the tip of a growing root, rubbed off by the motion of the root tip through the soil and constantly renewed from within
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tuber
British English: tuber
/ˈtjuːbə/ NOUN
A tuber is the swollen underground stem of particular types of plants.
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Definition of tuber from the Collins English Dictionary
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