| NOUN: |
1. |
: a low-branching widely cultivated annual herb (Arachis hypogaea) of the legume family with showy yellow flowers having a peduncle which elongates and bends into the soil where the ovary ripens into a pod containing one to three oily edible seeds; also : its seed or seed-containing pod |
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2. |
: an insignificant or tiny person |
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3. |
plural : a trifling amount |
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4. |
: a pellet usually made of polystyrene foam that is used especially as packing material |
| ETYMOLOGY: |
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"1807, earlier ground nut, ground pea (1769). The plant is native to S.America. Portuguese traders took peanuts from Brazil and Peru to Africa by 1502 and it is known to have been cultivated in Chekiang Province in China by 1573, probably arriving with Port. sailors who made stops in Brazil en route to the Orient. Peanut butter attested by 1892. Peanut gallery "topmost rows of a theater" is from 1888; peanuts 'trivial sum' is from 1934" -- Online Entymology Dictionary |
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