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  • berry
    berry
    noun
    any small, usually stoneless, juicy fruit, irrespective of botanical structure, as the huckleberry, strawberry, or hackberry.
  • Berry
    Berry
    noun
    Charles Edward Anderson Chuck, 1926–2017, U.S. rock-'n'-roll singer, musician, and composer.
Synonyms

berry

1 American  
[ber-ee] / ˈbɛr i /

noun

berries plural
  1. any small, usually stoneless, juicy fruit, irrespective of botanical structure, as the huckleberry, strawberry, or hackberry.

  2. Botany. a simple fruit having a pulpy pericarp in which the seeds are embedded, as the grape, gooseberry, currant, or tomato.

  3. a dry seed or kernel, as of wheat.

  4. the hip of the rose.

  5. one of the eggs of a lobster, crayfish, etc.

  6. Older Slang. the berries, someone or something very attractive or unusual.


verb (used without object)

berries, present (3rd person singular) berried, past participle, past berrying present participle
  1. to gather or pick berries.

    We went berrying this morning.

  2. to bear or produce berries.

Berry 2 American  
[ber-ee, be-ree] / ˈbɛr i, bɛˈri /

noun

  1. Charles Edward Anderson Chuck, 1926–2017, U.S. rock-'n'-roll singer, musician, and composer.

  2. Also Berri. a former province in central France.


berry 1 British  
/ ˈbɛrɪ /

noun

  1. any of various small edible fruits such as the blackberry and strawberry

  2. botany an indehiscent fruit with two or more seeds and a fleshy pericarp, such as the grape or gooseberry

  3. any of various seeds or dried kernels, such as a coffee bean

  4. the egg of a lobster, crayfish, or similar animal

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to bear or produce berries

  2. to gather or look for berries

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Berry 2 British  

noun

  1. Chuck , full name Charles Edward Berry . born 1926, US rock-and-roll guitarist, singer, and songwriter. His frequently covered songs include "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), "Johnny B. Goode" (1958), "Memphis, Tennessee" (1959), and "Promised Land" (1964)

  2. Jean de France (ʒɑ̃ də frɑ̃s), Duc de. 1340–1416, French prince, son of King John II; coregent (1380–88) for Charles VI and a famous patron of the arts

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

berry Scientific  
/ bĕrē /
  1. A simple fruit that has many seeds in a fleshy pulp. Grapes, bananas, tomatoes, and blueberries are berries.

  2. Compare drupe pome See more at simple fruit

  3. A seed or dried kernel of certain kinds of grain or other plants such as wheat, barley, or coffee.


Usage

What does berry mean? A berry is a small, stoneless, juicy fruit. Commonly, a berry is any small fruit that has no pit and usually produces juice. Berries range from sweet, such as the blueberry, to sour, such as the raspberry. In botany, a berry is specifically a fruit with a pulpy outer wall and many seeds. Botanically, then, some fruits commonly thought of as berries are not actually berries, including strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries. Fruits that botanically are berries include blueberries, bananas, grapes, and tomatoes. Less commonly, berry can also refer to a dry seed or kernel. As a verb, to berry means to pick berries or to produce berries. Example: We picked berries today, filling up three whole baskets.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of berry

before 1000; Middle English berie, Old English beri ( g ) e; cognate with Old Saxon, Old High German beri ( German Beere ), Old Norse ber < Germanic basjá-; akin to Dutch besie, Gothic -basi < Germanic básja-

Vocabulary lists containing berry

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Even as cases of cyclosporiasis rise in the U.S., you don’t have to avoid berry breakfasts and Caesar salads.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 23, 2026

Those include rival Rogue’s mango-flavored pouches and Velo’s wild berry and dragon fruit flavors.

From Barron's Jun. 30, 2026

Participants drank a banana based smoothie, a mixed berry smoothie, and a flavanol capsule used as a control.

From Science Daily May 24, 2026

One woman who worked at a berry farm before the steel mill opened told him “as soon as that plant fired up … everything died.”

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 26, 2026

In berry season, I could sell all the benies I could pick at my grandfather’s store.

From "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls

“Many of these jobs are high paying jobs that lead to a career, the ability to build wealth, buy a home, support a family,” said Tim Berry, JPMorgan’s head of corporate responsibility.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 15, 2026

The group started as a collection of blues-obsessed English youngsters and its 1964 self-titled debut record mostly consisted of tunes made famous by artists like Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 14, 2026

As a Southern California venue, Fiesta Village sits within driving distance of destinations such as Knott’s Berry Farm and Disneyland.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 7, 2026

Each Beeswax Mixed Berry Birthday Candles set is cast from real mixed berries — strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and cherries.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 1, 2026

I’d heard Spoony talk about it, because he and Berry had taken buses to other cities to march.

From "All American Boys" by Jason Reynolds

I always get berries at the market, too, like raspberries and blueberries.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 24, 2026

You might be hearing about them because historically, berries with bumpy textures, especially raspberries and blackberries, have been linked to cyclosporiasis outbreaks.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 23, 2026

Thyme and honey belong to a mutual admiration society, as do berries and buttermilk; the woodiness of the herb plays beautifully against tangy yogurt, while orange zest somehow charms the entire table.

From Salon Jul. 21, 2026

Don't completely ban them, says Kieron - just serve snacks alongside healthier options, like berries or other fruit, replicate snack times at school and don't stress about the odd treat.

From BBC Jul. 21, 2026

It had hand-shaped leaves and purple berries like the ones found on bramble vines.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

The floral arrangements used “English foliage — holly, berried ivy and red skimmia,” and the tree was to be recycled to be viewed by holiday visitors to Windsor.

From Washington Post Dec. 25, 2022

In fall, masses of winter pansies, ornamental kale and berried shrubs replace tender plantings in the massive window box and containers, while the trim boxwood hedges and clipped hollies carry the show throughout winter.

From Seattle Times Nov. 27, 2021

The kissing bunch of berried holly hung with bright and glittering things, spun slowly over Mrs. Morel's head as she trimmed her little tarts in the kitchen.

From Sons and Lovers by Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert)

And I forgot thee as the berried holly By shepherds is forgotten, when in June, Tall chesnuts keep away the sun and moon, I rushed into the folly!

From Heathen Mythology by Various

Days berried jess up hyuh at Mayodan whah Mr. Bollin's house is on and dem new bungyloes is on top um, too.

From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves, North Carolina Narratives, Part 1 by Various

They spoke most of the weather, and mentioned fishing, berrying and hunting as often as art.

From Time Magazine Archive

Of course, I’m not going to follow her, although it would be easier than playing On the Track, the game we made up when went berrying or food gathering.

From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

I’m beginning to think she’s gone fishing or berrying and will not return until dusk.

From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

Joe and Marly did so much berrying, what with strawberries and then red raspberries and then blackberries, that Joe said he was absolutely berried-out.

From "Miracles on Maple Hill" by Virginia Sorensen

In a moment she returned; for it was not for herself she was berrying, but for some speckled-breasted beauty shyly hiding in the alder thicket below.

From Upon The Tree-Tops by Miller, Olive Thorne

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