tater
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ta·ter
(tā′tər)n. Upper Southern US
Variant of potato.
[Shortening and alteration of potato.]
Our Living Language Since English is a language that stresses some syllables and not others, weakly stressed syllables, especially those preceding strong stresses, are dropped at times. This process, called aphesis when it occurs at the beginning of a word, is more common in regional American dialects than in the more conservative Standard English, which tends to retain in pronunciation anything reflected in spelling. Although many American dialects feature aphesis, it is most famous in the dialects of the South, where it yields pronunciations such as count of for (on) account of, possum for opossum, tater for potato, and skeeter for mosquito. See Note at holler2
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
tater
(ˈteɪtə)n
(Plants) a dialect word for potato
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
ta•ter
(ˈteɪ tər)n. Dial.
potato.
[1750–60]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
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| Noun | 1. |  tater - an edible tuber native to South America; a staple food of Irelandstarches - foodstuff rich in natural starch (especially potatoes, rice, bread) solanaceous vegetable - any of several fruits of plants of the family Solanaceae; especially of the genera Solanum, Capsicum, and Lycopersicon root vegetable - any of various fleshy edible underground roots or tubers baked potato - potato that has been cooked by baking it in an oven home fries, home-fried potatoes - sliced pieces of potato fried in a pan until brown and crisp jacket - the outer skin of a potato mashed potato - potato that has been peeled and boiled and then mashed Uruguay potato - similar to the common potato Solanum tuberosum, white potato, white potato vine, potato - annual native to South America having underground stolons bearing edible starchy tubers; widely cultivated as a garden vegetable; vines are poisonous |
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