Dictionary

Any tropical, climbing orchid of the genus Vanilla (especially Vanilla planifolia), bearing podlike fruit yielding an extract used in flavoring food or in perfumes.

The fruit or bean of the vanilla plant.

The extract of the fruit of the vanilla plant.

The distinctive fragrant flavour/flavor characteristic of vanilla extract.

Example: You can tell that the secret ingredient missing from New CokeTM was vanilla, because certain South American economies collapsed when it was introduced, and miraculously revived when the old formula was used again.

(of flavor, etc.) Of vanilla.

(retronym) Standard, plain, default, unmodified, basic.

Example: vanilla JavaScript

(sexuality) Not kinky, not involving BDSM.

Plain; conventional; unimaginative.