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berry definition

berry (ber′ē)

noun pl. berries -·ries

  1. any small, juicy, fleshy fruit, as a strawberry or raspberry
  2. the dry seed or kernel of various plants, as a coffee bean or wheat grain
  3. an egg of a lobster, crayfish, etc.
  4. Bot. a fleshy fruit with a soft wall and thin skin, as the tomato, grape, or cranberry

Etymology: ME & OE berie, a berry, grape, akin to ON ber, Goth weina-basi, lit., wine berry

intransitive verb berried -·ried, berrying -·ry·ing

  1. to produce berries
  2. to look for and pick berries

Related Forms:

Berry definition

Berry or Berri Berri′ (be rē′)

historical region in central France: chief city, Bourges

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

berry Synonyms

berry

n.

  1. A small pulpy fruit

    drupe, hip, drupelet, haw, pome.

    Common berries include: raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, loganberry, boysenberry, cranberry, huckleberry, whortleberry, bilberry, gooseberry, currant, strawberry, checkerberry, dewberry, hagberry, dogberry, bayberry, serviceberry, mulberry.

  2. A dry fruit

    seed, grain, kernel; see bean 1.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

berry Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • compote: Desserts are inventive, with superb licorice ice-cream lifting a pleasant berry compote to a higher level.

Adjective modifier

  • unripe: Seed from unripe berries tested 27 days after flower opening gave 100 % germination.

Noun used with modifier

  • juniper: Now crush the juniper berries very slightly without breaking them - just enough to release their flavor.
berry usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

berry quotes

Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did.

-Butler,William

berry quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"berry." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/berry>

APA Style

berry. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/berry

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