plantain

«plantain» in Mova's school dictionary: usually cooked before eating, often fried, boiled or… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (a plantain, plantains)

meaning for a pupil

1) A fruit like a big banana that is usually cooked before eating, often fried, boiled or baked; popular in Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America. tree →

2) A common wild plant (weed) with flat leaves close to the ground and thin spikes of tiny flowers; it grows on lawns and paths. tree →

sense in the lessons

In food lessons about the Caribbean and West Africa, fried plantain is a favourite side dish. In nature lessons in the UK and Ireland, plantain is a weed on school fields; ribwort plantain stems can be used for a «soldiers» conker-like game. Phrases: «fried plantain», «ripe plantain», «green plantain», «ribwort plantain».

examples

• Fried plantain is sweet and soft when it is ripe. tree →
• Plantains look like bananas but are usually cooked. tree →
• My Nigerian friend's mum makes plantain with rice. tree →
• Green plantain is hard and starchy. tree →
• There is plantain growing all over our lawn. tree →
• We played a game knocking the heads off ribwort plantain. tree →

note

Countable. Pronounced PLAN-tin or plan-TAYN. Two very different meanings: a cooking banana and a weed. Trap: do not eat wild plants unless an adult knows they are safe.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «plantain» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.