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Definition of "yam" []

  • Any of numerous chiefly tropical vines of the genus Dioscorea, many of which have edible tuberous roots. (noun)
  • The starchy root of any of these plants, used in the tropics as food. (noun)
  • Chiefly Southern U.S. See sweet potato. See Regional Note at goober. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "yam" in a sentence
  • "You no let cutty my Foot, so me no let cutty your Head; no be sadd, you have _bumby grande * yam yam_."
  • "The eater then blows up the steam from the hot yam, and afterwards pokes the whole into his mouth, and says, ‘I thank God for being permitted to eat the new yam’; he then begins to chew it heartily, with fish likewise."
  • "I guess that the term yam, as misapplied by growers and marketers of sweetpotatoes in the southern states, may have had its origin in the similar shapes of the roots of sweetpotatoes and the tubers another basic botanical difference of yams, the latter having been familiar to slaves from Africa."