raspberry Hear it!

raspberry definition

rasp·berry (razber′ē, -bər ē)

noun pl. raspberries -·ries

  1. the small, juicy, edible, aggregate fruit of various brambles (genus Rubus) of the rose family, consisting of a cluster of red, purple, or black drupelets
  2. any plant bearing this fruit
  3. Etymology: < rhyming slang raspberry tart, fart

    Slang a sound of derision, contempt, etc. made by expelling air forcibly so as to vibrate the tongue between the lips

Etymology: earlier raspis berry < rasp, raspis, raspberry (prob. same word as ME raspis, kind of wine) + berry

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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