mashed potato

mashed potato (countable and uncountable, plural mashed potatoes)

1. (usually uncountable) Alternative form of mashed potatoes (“a dish consisting of potatoes that have been boiled, mashed to a pulpy consistency, and mixed with such ingredients as butter or milk”).
   • 1924 May 3, “Lucid Intervals”, in George D[ePui] Mitchell, editor, The Pathfinder, 21st year, number 1583, Washington, D.C.: The Pathfinder Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 2, column 2:

     “I would like a little lamb and some mashed potatoes,” said the diner to the waiter. The waiter called back to the kitchen: “One lamb and one mashed potato.”

   • 2014, Cathy Kelly, chapter 5, in It Started With Paris, London: Orion Books, →ISBN, page 73:

     ‘You get used to the non-stop chattering and teasing,’ said Sorcha, with four-year-old Finn beside her, eagerly eating mashed potato and his own mini portion of turkey.

   • 2019 December 27, Michael Fountain, “The Cruise”, in Brass September, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, book 2:

     I believe I want a steak, well done, steamed broccoli and a mashed potato. For my appetizer I want clam chowder.

2. (rare, countable) A single potato prepared in this manner.
   • 1975 May, Juan Carlos Ortiz, “Mashed Potato Love”, in Disciple, Carol Stream, Ill.: Creation House, published November 1975, →ISBN, part 1 (The New Wine), page 62:

     But what God wants is mashed potatoes. Not many potatoes—one mashed potato. No potato can stand up and say, “Here I am! I’m a potato.” The word must be we.

   • 1979 July, Janet Frame, chapter 24, in Living in the Maniototo, New York, N.Y.: George Braziller, published August 1979, →ISBN, page 147:

     I have a vivid early memory of eating a meal of boiled shredded cotton flannel mixed with one mashed potato, as a soup which served our family for our one daily meal.

   • 2012, JJ Virgin, “Your Glycemic Load”, in The Virgin Diet: Drop 7 Foods, Lose 7 Pounds, Just 7 Days, Toronto, Ont.: Harlequin, →ISBN, part II (7 Foods to Avoid), chapter 7 (The Sweetness Trap), page 130:

     Remember how I said we eat just a few bites of carrot but a whole potato? Well, a single carrot has a glycemic index of 131 and contains only 4 grams of carbs, so its glycemic load is (1.31 x 4), or about 5. One mashed potato has a glycemic index of 104 and 37 grams of carbohydrates, so its glycemic load is (1.04 x 37), or just over 38.

3. (countable) A dance or a dance move popular in Western culture the 1960s.

   Alternative form: Mashed Potato

• mashed potatoes

• mashed potato on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Mashed Potato (dance) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia