vanilla

noun

• 1 [mass noun] a substance obtained from vanilla pods or produced artificially and used to flavour foods or to impart a fragrant scent to cosmetic preparations: [as modifier]:vanilla ice cream
• ice cream flavoured with vanilla:four scoops of vanilla with hot fudge sauce
• [as modifier] of the creamy colour of vanilla ice cream:a vanilla dress

• 2a tropical climbing orchid which has fragrant flowers and long pod-like fruit.

  • Genus Vanilla, family Orchidaceae: many species, in particular V. planifolia, the chief commercial source of vanilla pods
• (also vanilla pod) the fruit of the vanilla plant which is cured and then either used in cookery or processed to extract an essence which is used for flavour and fragrance.

adjective

• having no special or extra features; ordinary or standard:choosing plain vanilla technology wherever you can will save you money the original, vanilla MP3 format is still the most commonly encountered form of the technology they seem to be quite content in their plain vanilla domestic life his sex life is totally vanilla