Dictionary

mashed-potatoey en · ADJ

Etymology

From mashed potato + -ey.

Meanings

1. Resembling or characteristic of mashed potato.
   • The snow was even worse than we’d first thought. It felt almost like quicksand in some spots, hard and icy in others, and a mixture of natural and man-made snow. Overall, I’d describe the snow as very mashed-potatoey, and that had a lot to with the humidity; the average daytime temperature hovered around 50 degrees, thanks to Sochi’s low latitude and its position right near the Black Sea. 2014, Amy Purdy with Michelle Burford, On My Own Two Feet: From Losing My Legs to Learning the Dance of Life, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow, →ISBN, page 203:
   • The only drawback, she [Mary Williams] says, is that you have to get up early for the best snow conditions. It can get slushy and mashed-potatoey by mid-afternoon. 2007 April 5, Pete Zimowsky, “It’s party time at area ski resorts as season winds down”, in Outdoors (Idaho Statesman), Boise, Ida., page 12:
   • “The tops of these clouds look fibrous or wispy because they’re made up of crystals,” he [Bill Imperatore] said. “The bottoms are cottony or mashed-potatoey-looking because they’re warmer. Some water vapor begins to fall as ice crystals but it melts on the way down and exits the cloud in the form of rain.” 1987 February 4, “Professor Gives Facts About Snow Crystals”, in Hickory Daily Record, volume 72, number 30, Hickory, N.C., page 5A, column 1:
   • The only fishcakes I have ever personally experienced were these frozen pre-made fishcake things. These were round breaded things containing a soft mashed-potatoey substance. 2002 January 17, Richard Fontana, “Fishcake”, in alt.usage.english (Usenet), archived from the original on 06 Nov 2023:
   • A short list of snacks is available at the bar, but one needn’t look further than the truffled tater tots ($5): perfectly crispy cylinders with smooth, hot, mashed-potatoey insides. 2012 April 27, Gabe Hartwig, “Club mixes cocktails inspired by the classics”, in Go! (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), St. Louis, Mo., page 6:
   • We used to break off crumbs and crunch it into a mashed-potatoey pulp. 2002, Warren Cariou, Lake of the Prairies: A Story of Belonging, [Toronto, Ont.]: Doubleday Canada, →ISBN, page 247:
   • French fries are cut steak-style, thick and fried a blond color, sort of mashed-potatoey inside. 1992 January 24, Andrea Ray Chandler, “Gates & Sons meat has that smoky taste”, in The Olathe Daily News, volume 32, number 250, Olathe, Kan., page 8B:
   • I proceeded to eat what else lay on my plate, including the small crabs (shell and all, as it should be done apparently) and the jelly-like, mashed-potatoey, no flavour, whitish substance that went with the sauce. 2003 June 13, Natasha Mullen, “Out of Africa”, in The Lance, volume 76, number 12, Windsor, Ont.: University of Windsor, published 7 October 2003, page 16, column 2:
   • Curt Hazeldine, 50, of Foxborough, Mass., who enjoys skiing and snowboarding, said the snow can get a little “mashed-potatoey” and the weather a bit fickle in the spring, but it’s still a great time to be outdoors. 2011 March 20, Kathy McCormack, “Plenty of snow left for New England spring skiing”, in Burlington Free Press, volume 184, number 79, Burlington, Vt., page 10B, column 1:
2. With mashed potato.
   • On more than one occasion, usually after Mom and Pop had left the kitchen, I said, “You call this pot clean? It still has mashed potatoes on it.” I tossed it back in the sink so bubbles flew in her face and a wave of mashed-potatoey water splashed her shirt. 2006 April 30, Pat Kuhl, “I just call her Sis”, in Sunday Magazine (Belleville News-Democrat), Belleville, Ill., page 4, column 1:
   • Silent tears brimmed in Lorraine’s eyes as she stood there, wringing her mashed-potatoey hands on a dish towel. 1994, Anthony Bruno, Bad Apple, New York, N.Y.: Delacorte Press, →ISBN, page 289:
   • MacDinton’s Irish Pub & Restaurant ([…]) is another Irish entry, with a killer black and tan, a warming Irish coffee, and a fair representation of Irish staples, from rib-sticking, mashed-potatoey shepherd’s pie to respectable corned beef and cabbage. 2005, Laura Reiley, “[Tampa] Nightlife”, in Florida Gulf Coast (Moon Handbooks), Emeryville, Calif.: Avalon Travel, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 169, column 2:

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