tomato

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/təˈmeɪtoʊ/
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A juicy edible fruit, the nightshade plant that bears it, the bright red color named from it, and a dated slang word for a woman.
Practice using this word in conversation

Examples

  • The glossary marks tomato as older slang.
  • In the film, tomato is meant as brash old slang.
  • Modern editors often avoid tomato for a woman.
  • The gardener tied the tomato to a stake.
  • She chose a tomato-colored scarf.

Similar words

love apple
dish
tomato plant
vermilion
scarlet
Solanum lycopersicum
dame
doll
tomato red
carmine

Meanings

Edible fruit

noun
food
neutral
The juicy fruit of a tomato plant, usually red when ripe and eaten raw or cooked as a vegetable.

Usage

Use tomato for the fruit in ordinary cooking, shopping, and eating contexts, whether it is fresh, canned, sauced, or dried.

Examples

  • She sliced a ripe tomato for the sandwich.
  • The sauce tastes brighter with fresh tomatoes.
  • He packed cherry tomatoes with his lunch.
  • Canned tomatoes form the base of the stew.
  • A green tomato can be fried before it ripens.
  • The salad needs another tomato.

Common mistakes

The plural is often missed, and the food sense is sometimes confused with the plant that grows it.
IncorrectCorrect
I bought three tomato. I bought three tomatoes.
The tomato in the pot needs more water. The tomato plant in the pot needs more water.
This pasta needs a tomato plant sauce. This pasta needs a tomato sauce.

Similar words

love apple

Tomato plant

noun
botany
neutral
The nightshade plant, commonly grown as an annual, that produces tomatoes.

Usage

Use tomato for the plant mainly in gardening, farming, and botany, especially in compounds such as tomato plant, tomato seedling, and tomato vine.

Examples

  • A tomato grows best in warm, sunny weather.
  • The gardener tied the tomato to a stake.
  • Disease spread quickly through the tomatoes in the greenhouse.
  • Each tomato needs deep soil and steady watering.
  • She started her tomatoes from seed in March.
  • The tomato belongs to the nightshade family.

Common mistakes

The bare noun can sound unclear when the plant, not the fruit, is meant.
IncorrectCorrect
I watered the tomato on the patio. I watered the tomato plant on the patio.
She planted six tomatoes in the bed. She planted six tomato plants in the bed.
The tomato fruit needs staking. The tomato plant needs staking.

Similar words

tomato plant
Solanum lycopersicum

Bright red

adjective
color
neutral
Bright red or reddish orange, like the color of a ripe tomato.

Usage

Use tomato before color words or design nouns when the shade matters, especially in phrases such as tomato red, tomato shade, and tomato-colored.

Examples

  • The kitchen chairs were painted tomato red.
  • She chose a tomato-colored scarf.
  • A tomato shade warmed the poster design.
  • The lipstick has a bold tomato tone.
  • The awning was striped in cream and tomato.
  • He marked the urgent notes with a tomato highlight.

Common mistakes

The color use usually needs a color noun or a compound form to sound natural.
IncorrectCorrect
She wore a tomato. She wore a tomato-red dress.
The logo is tomato. The logo is tomato red.
He painted the door tomato color. He painted the door tomato-colored.

Similar words

tomato red
scarlet
vermilion
coral red
carmine

Dated slang for a woman

noun
people
slang
An old slang word for a woman, often an attractive woman, now dated and usually objectifying.

Usage

Treat tomato in this sense as historical or deliberately retro slang, not as a neutral way to refer to a person.

Examples

  • The old detective novel calls the singer a glamorous tomato.
  • That use of tomato sounds like 1920s slang.
  • The script keeps the dated line, "Who's the tomato?"
  • In the film, tomato is meant as brash old slang.
  • Modern editors often avoid tomato for a woman.
  • The glossary marks tomato as older slang.

Common mistakes

The dated slang can sound insulting when used as ordinary modern speech.
IncorrectCorrect
My new manager is a smart tomato. My new manager is a smart woman.
Ask that tomato at reception. Ask the woman at reception.
The report was written by a tomato. The report was written by a woman.

Similar words

dame
doll
dish
looker

Usage

Let context separate the food from the plant, reserve the color use for clear design language, and treat the person-reference slang as dated.

Common mistakes

Three tomato should be three tomatoes, and the plant sense is often clearer as tomato plant.

Etymology

From earlier English tomate, borrowed through Spanish tomate from Nahuatl tomatl. The later spelling was probably shaped by potato, and the older name love apple survived for a time.

FAQ

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