a round, juicy red fruit with smooth skin and many seeds, often eaten raw or cooked in salads, sauces, and other dishes
At lunchtime, Maria sliced a ripe tomato for her sandwich.
The salad looked colorful with red tomato and green lettuce.
✦ Early 17th century: from Spanish ‘tomate’, of Nahuatl origin (‘tomatl’)
the leafy, bushy plant with hairy stems and yellow flowers that produces tomato fruits
The gardener watered each tomato every morning to help it grow tall.
After a few weeks, the small tomato began to sprout yellow flowers.
(slang, dated) an attractive young woman, especially one considered stylish or sexually appealing
In the old movie, the detective calls the singer a real tomato.
His grandpa still uses the term tomato to talk about pretty girls.
✦ American slang from the 1920s, possibly comparing a woman’s attractiveness to the bright, eye-catching color of a ripe tomato
