Alligator pear
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An avocado. Caribbean, Louisiana, Southern-US, dialectal, especially
"There was a tree just behind which bore alligator pears, and all about were the cocoa-nuts which gave the land its revenue."
- 2 a pear-shaped tropical fruit with green or blackish skin and rich yellowish pulp enclosing a single large seed wordnet
Example
More examples"There was a tree just behind which bore alligator pears, and all about were the cocoa-nuts which gave the land its revenue."
Etymology
The "alligator" is likely an alteration of Spanish aguacate, perhaps influenced by the similarity in texture between the skin of the fruit and of an alligator.