packing peanuts

pea·​nutˈpē-(ˌ)nət

noun

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 seedsalso: its seed or seed-containing pod

an insignificant or tiny person

peanuts plural a trifling amount

a pellet made of a low-density lightweight material (such as polystyrene foam or corn starch) that is used especially as packing material—usually pluralIn the 1800s the acorns were used for packing (like Styrofoam peanuts) and ships would dump them overboard and they'd wash up on shore.—Rich EldredWhenever you get plants in the mail, or other fragile things, they come packed with these foam peanuts.—Peter HottonThe bill would also ban the sale of polystyrene loose fill packaging, or packing peanuts.—Samantha Maldonado

It's all part of the company's mission to be more sustainable. When your paint shows up at your door, you won't find it loaded with polystyrene peanuts.—Nicole Conway

noun

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 seedsalso: its seed or seed-containing pod

an insignificant or tiny person

peanuts plural a trifling amount

a pellet made of a low-density lightweight material (such as polystyrene foam or corn starch) that is used especially as packing material—usually pluralIn the 1800s the acorns were used for packing (like Styrofoam peanuts) and ships would dump them overboard and they'd wash up on shore.—Rich EldredWhenever you get plants in the mail, or other fragile things, they come packed with these foam peanuts.—Peter HottonThe bill would also ban the sale of polystyrene loose fill packaging, or packing peanuts.—Samantha Maldonado

It's all part of the company's mission to be more sustainable. When your paint shows up at your door, you won't find it loaded with polystyrene peanuts.—Nicole Conway

adjective

insignificant, petty

peanut politics

adjective

insignificant, petty

peanut politics

The first known use of peanut was in 1802

peanutnoun

a plant of the legume family that has yellow flowers and is grown for its underground pods of oily nutlike edible seeds which yield peanut oil or are crushed to make peanut butteralso: this pod or one of the oily edible seeds it contains

plural a very small amount