whortleberry

(hwʉrt'l ber′ē)

noun pl. whortleberries

    1. either of two European blueberries (Vaccinium myrtillus or V. uliginosum) having pink flowers and blue or blackish edible berries with a powdery bloom
    2. any of these berries
  1. ☆ any of various American plants, as the huckleberry

Origin: < SW Brit dial. form of earlier hurtleberry

See whortleberry in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. Either of two deciduous shrubs, Vaccinium myrtillus, of Eurasia, or V. corymbosum, of eastern North America, having edible blackish berries.
  2. The fruit of either of these plants.

Origin:

Origin: Dialectal variant of hurtleberry

Origin: , from Middle English hurtilberi

Origin: : perhaps alteration of hurt, an azure-colored ball (from Old French heurte)

Origin: + berye, beri, berry; see berry

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