cush-cush
(ˈkʊʃkʊʃ)
[Native name.]
A species of yam, Dioscorea trifida, native to South America and cultivated for its edible tubers.
| 1871 Kingsley At Last ii. 49 Great roots of yam and cush-cush. Ibid. 72 Wild cush-cush roots. 1929 Nicholls & Holland Textbk. Trop. Agric. (ed. 2) xv. 446 Cush-cush Yam of Trinidad or Yampi of Jamaica (Dioscorea trifida, Linn.). 1960 Guardian 8 Jan. 4/7 The ‘couscouche’ yam, the cush-cush of the British West Indies..are often made into fritters. 1969 Oxf. Bk. Food Plants 182/1 All [yams] are of Old World origin except the cush-cush yam Dioscorea trifida which is native to America. |