- a leguminous plant, Arachis hypogaea, of tropical America: widely cultivated for its edible seeds. The seed pods are forced underground where they ripen
- Also called: goober, goober pea, (Brit) groundnut, (Brit) monkey nut the edible nutlike seed of this plant, used for food and as a source of oil
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
pea•nut /ˈpiˌnʌt, -nət/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Plant Biologythe pod or nut of a plant of the legume family.
- Plant Biologythe plant itself.
- any small or insignificant person or thing.
- Informal Terms peanuts, [plural] a very small amount of money:got peanuts for our old car.
pea•nut
(pē′nut′, -nət),USA pronunciation n.
adj.
- Plant Biologythe pod or the enclosed edible seed of the plant, Arachis hypogaea, of the legume family: the pod is forced underground in growing, where it ripens.
- Plant Biologythe plant itself.
- any small or insignificant person or thing.
- peanuts:
- Informal Termsa very small amount of money:working for peanuts.
- Slang Termsbarbiturates.
- small pieces of Styrofoam used as a packing material.
adj.
- Plant Biologyof or pertaining to the peanut or peanuts.
- made with or from peanuts.
- [Informal.]small, insignificant, or petty.
- pea1 + nut 1790–1800, American.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
peanut /ˈpiːˌnʌt/ n
'peanut' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
brittle
- butter
- earthnut
- gado-gado
- goober
- groundnut
- monkey nut
- peanut butter
- aflatoxin
- arachidic acid
- arachis oil
- chunky
- earthpea
- ground pea
- hog peanut
- legume family
- nigger heaven
- peanut gallery
- peanut heaven
- peanut oil
- peanut worm
- pinder
- popcorn
- sate
- sipunculid
- spread