Mealy means dry and crumbly like ground grain. A mealy apple, mealy potatoes, mealy texture.
Of an apple it is a fault caused by the cells separating rather than breaking when bitten, which happens with age and warm storage. Of a potato it is a virtue and the right texture for roasting. Mealy-mouthed means afraid to speak plainly. Note meal, in the sense of ground grain.
1adjectivemealyDry and crumbly like ground grain.
“These potatoes go soft and mealy when you boil them, so they're perfect for mashing.”
mealy is a quality of texture.
MEALy → ground fine at the MILL
Ground fine at the mill until it is dry and crumbles between your fingers.
hooks ontomill
Meal plus -y, where meal means ground grain, from Old English melu. German mehlig is the same compound.
From meal + -y. Cognate with German mehlig.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA