tomato

plural tomatoes · alternative obsolete tomatoe · alternative pronunciation spelling tomater · alternative Appalachia Southern US informal 'mater

1. countableuncountableA widely cultivated plant, Solanum lycopersicum, having edible fruit.
2. countableuncountableThe savory fruit of this plant, most often red when ripe, treated as a vegetable in horticulture and cooking.

   He was chopping a tomato to put in the salad.

   2 more examples

   He was eating a tomato when his boss called him.

   In common parlance tomatoes are vegetables, as the Supreme Court observed long ago [see Nix v. Hedden 149 U.S. 304, 307, 13 S.Ct. 881, 882, 37 L.Ed. 745 (1893)], although botanically speaking they are actually a fruit. [26 Encyclopedia Americana 832 (Int'l. ed. 1981)]. Regardless of classification, people have been enjoying tomatoes for centuries; even Mr. Pickwick, as Dickens relates, ate his chops in "tomata" sauce.

   1990, JSG Trading Corp. v. Tray-Wrap, Inc., 917 F.2d 75 (2d Cir. 1990)

   Synonyms: golden apple, love apple, wolf's peach

3. countableuncountableA shade of red, the colour typical of a ripe tomato.
4. countableslanguncountableAn attractive woman.

   2015 19 Old-Fashioned Compliments We Should Bring Back That shirt makes you look like such a glorious tomato.

   4 more examples

   Deborah Harry, the New Wave goddess, is finally admitting -- after all the peroxide and posturing of the 1970's and 80's -- that she's really just a tomato (her word) from Paterson […].

   1999 April 4, Frank Decaro, “No Longer the Punch-Line State”, in The New York Times, section 9, page 1

   When she left the room, I asked Robert, “Who's the tomato?” “Marisa. She's from Mexico.” He had a telltale smile on his face.

   2008, Denny Durbin, Lazy Enchiladas: Redefining Success: Tasty Lessons on Love, Life, & Relationships, Bodega Publishing, →ISBN, page 13

   “Who's the tomato?” a cop said as Evie walked past. “Her? She's the stiff's niece,” another cop answered.

   2020, Libba Bray, The King of Crows, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, →ISBN

   When did this happen last, a tomato he's hardly met going to so much trouble? Ever?

   2025, Thomas Pynchon, Shadow Ticket, Jonathan Cape, page 19

5. countableslanguncountableA stupid act or person.

comparative more tomato · superlative most tomato · alternative obsolete tomatoe · alternative pronunciation spelling tomater · alternative Appalachia Southern US informal 'mater

1. Of a shade of red, the colour of a ripe tomato.

   And she’d slathered a heavy layer of foundation over the raw skin of her face with the end result being a complexion that was more tomato than orange.

   2011, Jackie Braun, “Most Focused”, in Mr. Right There All Along (Harlequin Romance, #4258; The Fun Factor), Toronto, Ont.: Harlequin, →ISBN, page 220

   3 more examples

   Her face is on the cover: the Anne Estelle Rice portrait – or the black-eyed Japanese-bobbed head-and-shoulders bit of it – and the square-yoked dress is tomato, or pomegranate, but never persimmon. If it stayed too long in the sun and faded, well yes, maybe then…

   1990, Beverley Farmer, “December”, in A Body of Water, Sydney, N.S.W.: Giramondo Publishing, published 2020, →ISBN

   This afternoon, though, she saunters in, draped in a dress the color of a ripe tomato, with a hat to match, her hair twisted underneath in some kind of fashionable up-do that seems impossible to create oneself. […] Penny is sitting there, on the bed, next to me, chewing on the end of the pen, dressed in her frivolous tomato dress.

   2013, Jillian Cantor, Margot, New York, N.Y.: Riverhead Books, →ISBN, pages 93–94 (chapter 16) and 164 (chapter 26)

   Intending to tease out Shona’s know-it-all nature by spouting off some trivia, I googled the Pala d’Oro on my phone. It was pure folly, but I was kind of worried about her. “Wikipedia says the cloth has a hundred and eighty-seven enamel plaques depicting Christ and the saints that are decorated with gold, silver, and around two thousand gems.” I peeked at Shona, whose face was tomato, and continued.

   2021, Traci Andrighetti, chapter 9, in Valpolicella Violet (Franki Amato Mysteries; 7), Limoncello Press, →ISBN

present singular third person tomatos · participle present tomatoing · participle past tomatoed · past tomatoed · alternative obsolete tomatoe · alternative pronunciation spelling tomater · alternative Appalachia Southern US informal 'mater

1. raretransitiveTo pelt with tomatoes.
2. raretransitivecookingTo add tomatoes to (a dish).