Also spelled cocoa-nut and cocoanut
Meanings
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1
noun
The large brown fruit of the coconut palm, with a hard, hairy shell and sweet white flesh inside.
He cracked open a coconut and drank the milk inside.
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2
noun
The edible white flesh of this fruit, often dried and used in cooking.
The cake was topped with shredded coconut.
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3
noun
The tall tropical palm tree that bears coconuts.
Rows of coconut palms lined the white beach.
Thesaurus
Etymology
From coco + nut. In reference to assimilated Hispanic or black people, derived from the fruit's exotic origins. The slur originates from the idea that one is "brown on the outside, white on the inside". In reference to Polynesians, from the ubiquity of coconut palms in the area.