vanilla
va·nil·la / vəˈnilə/ • n. 1. a substance obtained from vanilla beans or produced artificially and used to flavor sweet foods or to impart a fragrant scent to cosmetic preparations: [as adj.] vanilla ice cream. ∎ ice cream flavored with vanilla: a scoop of vanilla. 2. a tropical climbing orchid (genus Vanilla) that has fragrant flowers and long podlike fruit. Its many species include V. planifolia, the chief commercial source of vanilla beans. ∎ (also vanilla bean or vanilla pod) the fruit of this plant, which is cured and then either used in cooking or processed to extract an essence that is used for flavor and fragrance.• adj. having no special or extra features; ordinary: vanilla sex.
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