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cherry definition

cherry (c̸her′ē)

noun pl. cherries -·ries

  1. a small, fleshy fruit containing a smooth, hard pit and ranging from yellow to very dark red, including sweet, sour, and duke cherries
  2. any of various prunus trees that bear this fruit
  3. the wood of such a tree
  4. the bright-red color of certain cherries
  5. Slang
    1. ☆ the hymen
    2. virginity

Etymology: ME cheri < Anglo-Fr cherise (taken as pl.) < OFr cerise < VL *ceresia < Gr kerasion, cherry < kerasos, cherry tree < ? IE base *ker-; derived by the ancients from Cerasus, city on the Black Sea: the city's name is itself from the cherries grown in the area

adjective

  1. bright-red
  2. made of cherry wood
  3. made with cherries
  4. having a flavor like that of cherries
  5. Slang new or like new a used car in cherry condition

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

cherry Synonyms

cherry

modif.

ruddy, reddish, rosy, cerise, claret, bright red, light red, blushing, incarnadine, rubescent, rubicund, erubescent, cherry-colored, cherry-red, bright, blooming; see also red.


cherry

n.

Varieties of cherries include: Bing, Lambert, black Tartarian, Napoleon, Windsor, Royal Ann, Queen Anne, Royal Duke, Surinam, Cornelian, Japanese flowering, Montmorency, English Morello, wild, pin, chokecherry, bird, black, yellow, golden, red, brush, sour, marasca, amarelle, sweet, mazzard, maraschino, bigarreau, oxheart, native, Barbados;


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.

cherry Usage Examples

Preposition: on

  • cake: The fact that I won a popcorn maker from you is the cherry on the cake, thanks.

Adjective modifier

  • tart: In this words, " The Bakewell tart cherry has been the demise of many an automation engineer.

Modifies a noun

  • blossom: Cherry blossoms are in bloom in a short period.

Noun used with modifier

  • maraschino: Garnish with a maraschino cherry in the middle of the creamy top.
cherry 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.

cherry quotes

If only we might fall Like cherry blossoms in the spring So pure and radiant.

-Anonymous

I'll seize the rosebuds in their perfumed bed, The violet knots, like curious mazes spread O'er all the garden, taste the ripened cherry, The warm, firm apple, tipped with coral berry. Then will I visit with a wandering kiss The vale of lilies and the bower of bliss, And where the beauteous region doth divide Into two milky ways, my lips shall slide Down those smooth alleys, wearing as I go A track for lovers on the printed snow.

-Carew,Thomas

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now Is hung with bloom along the bough, And stands about the woodland ride Wearing white for Eastertide.

-Housman, A(lfred) E(dward)

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

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/cherry>

APA Style

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

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/cherry

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