Tomato is a common food. It looks like a red or yellow fruit but is used in cooking as a vegetable. People eat it raw or cooked.
I eat a tomato in my salad.
The tomato is red and round.
In slang, tomato means a person, usually a woman, who is considered attractive. This use is informal and old-fashioned.
She is a real tomato at the party.
He called her a tomato once.
Tomato can mean a person or player who performs badly. This is informal and mainly used in British English in sports or games.
He was a tomato in the game today.
Don’t be a tomato on the field.
Tomato also means the red coloring substance (lycopene) found in tomatoes. It is used in food and science to describe the natural pigment.
Tomato gives food a red color.
Lycopene is the tomato pigment.
To tomato someone means to throw tomatoes at them to show you do not like their actions or work. This is a verb used in informal or humorous situations.
They tomatoed the bad singer.
People tomatoed the bad play.
