Meaning & use
coconut
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
The large brown seed of a tropical palm, with a hard hairy shell, white flesh, and clear liquid inside.
Grammar: Countable: 'a coconut', 'three coconuts'.
Patterns
- a coconut
- crack open a coconut
- grate a coconut
He climbed the palm and picked a coconut.
We drank the water straight from a fresh coconut.
The recipe uses grated coconut and lime.
noununcountable
The white flesh of this seed, eaten raw or used in cooking.
Grammar: Uncountable when referring to the flesh as a food: 'a piece of coconut'.
Patterns
- grated coconut
- coconut milk
- a piece of coconut
She sprinkled coconut on top of the cake.
This curry is made with coconut and spices.
I don't like the texture of coconut.
Word forms
| plural | coconuts |
|---|
Common combinations
- coconut milk
- Add a can of coconut milk to the pan.
- coconut oil
- She cooks with coconut oil instead of butter.
- coconut water
- Coconut water is a popular drink after exercise.
- coconut palm
- The beach was lined with coconut palms.
- desiccated coconut
- Roll the balls in desiccated coconut.
Word family
- coconutty adjective
- Informal, describing a taste or smell like coconut.
Commonly confused: coconut or cacao? coconut or coco?
coconut vs cacao
Cacao is the tree and seed used to make chocolate, not the coconut palm.
coconut vs coco
Coco is an informal word for coconut, but also a brand name; 'cocoa' is the chocolate powder.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
'Coconut' is a countable noun, so the plural is 'coconuts'. 'Cocoanuts' is old-fashioned, and 'coconut's' is a possessive, not a plural.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “coconut”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.