underground pod of the peanut vine
"The gardener carefully dug up the soil to retrieve the peanut, which grows as an underground pod rather than hanging from its vine above ground."
widely cultivated American plant cultivated in tropical and warm regions; showy yellow flowers on stalks that bend over to the soil so that seed pods ripen underground
"The peanut, a native of South America now grown across many tropical climates, produces its distinctive yellow blossoms before bending them downward into the earth where the seeds mature."
a young child who is small for his age
"The peanut was too short to reach the top shelf without help."
pod of the peanut vine containing usually 2 nuts or seeds; `groundnut' and `monkey nut' are British terms
"The farmer harvested a fresh peanut from its pod, which held two small seeds inside."
A legume resembling a nut, the fruit of the plant Arachis hypogaea.
"Crunching on roasted peanuts is my favorite snack because they are actually edible seeds from a flowering plant rather than true nuts."
In plain English: A peanut is an edible seed that grows underground and tastes great when roasted with salt.
"She reached for a peanut from her bag while waiting in line."
Usage: Use this word primarily for the edible seed rather than its slang verb meaning when discussing food or agriculture. Avoid confusing it with actual tree nuts since peanuts are technically legumes that grow underground.
To pull on somebody's tie as a prank, causing the knot to tighten.
"The boys decided to play a trick by pulling each other's ties tight while they were talking about their grades."
In plain English: To peanut means to move quickly and quietly by crawling on your stomach with only your hands pushing you forward.
"She will peanut her rival at every opportunity to keep ahead in the race."
of little importance or influence or power; of minor status
"a minor, insignificant bureaucrat"
"peanut politicians"
The word peanut likely comes from combining the words "pea" and "nut," possibly as a simplified version of older terms like pinda or pinder. This name reflects how people originally thought the seed was both related to peas and grew underground like nuts.