pepper
Americannoun
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peppers
plural
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a pungent condiment obtained from various plants of the genus Piper, especially from the dried berries, used whole or ground, of the tropical climbing shrub P. nigrum.
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any plant of the genus Piper.
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any of several plants of the genus Capsicum, especially C. annuum, cultivated in many varieties, or C. frutescens.
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the usually green or red fruit of any of these plants, ranging from mild to very pungent in flavor.
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the pungent seeds of several varieties of C. annuum or C. frutescens, used ground or whole as a condiment.
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Baseball. pepper game.
verb (used with object)
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peppers,
present (3rd person singular)
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peppered,
past participle, past
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peppering
present participle
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to season with or as if with pepper.
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to sprinkle or cover, as if with pepper; dot.
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to sprinkle like pepper.
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to hit with rapidly repeated short jabs.
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to pelt with or as if with shot or missiles.
They peppered the speaker with hard questions.
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to discharge (shot or missiles) at something.
noun
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a woody climbing plant, Piper nigrum, of the East Indies, having small black berry-like fruits: family Piperaceae
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the dried fruit of this plant, which is ground to produce a sharp hot condiment See also black pepper white pepper
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any of various other plants of the genus Piper See cubeb betel kava
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Also called: capsicum. any of various tropical plants of the solanaceous genus Capsicum, esp C. frutescens, the fruits of which are used as a vegetable and a condiment See also bird pepper sweet pepper red pepper cayenne pepper
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the fruit of any of these capsicums, which has a mild or pungent taste
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the condiment made from the fruits of any of these plants
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any of various similar but unrelated plants, such as water pepper
verb
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to season with pepper
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to sprinkle liberally; dot
his prose was peppered with alliteration
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to pelt with small missiles
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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peppersimple
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pepperssimple
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have pepperedperfect
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has pepperedperfect
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am pepperingprogressive
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are pepperingprogressive
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is pepperingprogressive
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have been pepperingperfect progressive
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has been pepperingperfect progressive
Past
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pepperedsimple
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had pepperedperfect
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was pepperingprogressive
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were pepperingprogressive
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had been pepperingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pepper
before 1000; Middle English peper, piper, Old English pipor (> Old Norse pipari, piparr ) < Latin piper < Greek péperi; compare Old Frisian piper, Dutch peper, Old High German pfeffar ( German Pfeffer ); these and Old English pipor perhaps < a common West Germanic borrowing < Latin
Explanation
The black spice you sprinkle on your food to make it taste more flavorful? That's pepper. If your soup is a little bland, try adding some salt and pepper. Pepper starts out as a tiny fruit called a peppercorn. Once harvested and dried, these are ground into a powder and become what we think of as pepper. Other kinds of pepper include white pepper, which is a variation on black pepper, and the vegetables known as peppers, including sweet bell peppers and spicy jalapeño peppers. As a verb, pepper means "fill with scattered items," like the way you might pepper your essay with sophisticated vocabulary words to impress your teacher.
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:
The analogy Crill uses is having a habanero pepper in your kitchen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
Working from before dawn until midnight, farmers Nikoletta Pajsan Nagy and Laszlo Pajsan fought Europe's driest summer ever to save their red pepper harvest in Hungary.
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
The grandfather says that a group of Israeli soldiers protected his family from the settlers who tried to approach them, using pepper spray to force them back.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
My spring pea soup — peas, stock, cream, dill, black pepper and lemon zest — absolutely does not belong in the oven.
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026
Dust swirled as we sped past pepper trees and Mexican palms.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Mr. Miéville peppers his pages with references to real-life people, literature and political history, casually throwing them into the text and expecting the reader to catch up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Originating from the Americas, peppers found their way to Hungary's sun-drenched, fertile river plains around Kalocsa and Szeged in the 16th century.
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
Even when the tomatoes are gone and the bread stall is picked clean, you can usually find some jar of something sharp, spicy and brined: giardiniera, hot peppers, spicy dills, pickled carrots.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
Chipotle says it has removed jalapeños from some of its restaurants after determining the peppers could be tied to a salmonella outbreak public health officials are investigating.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
The healthiest things on the menu are the peppers and onions you can add to a pie.
From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas
Players who were not participating in live play still peppered coaches with questions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026
ChatGPT peppered these follow-up questions with a few gentle jabs at my own pressure tactics—enough for me to see that my focus on solutions might actually be stressful or uncomfortable for my friend.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026
Hundreds of robotics startups, some just a couple years old, peppered the sprawling convention centre hoping to dazzle.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
As I peppered him with questions about the pink car and the Brinks armored truck, he remained cagey while slowly yielding information.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
I found myself sprawled on the gym floor, dazed from smoke, my tie-dyed T-shirt peppered with sizzling holes.
From "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan
He spent much of the weekend holed up in Wilkinson’s Washington offices, where lawyers took turns role-playing as the judge and peppering lawyers with the toughest questions they could devise.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
There is a despondency now, with words like "depressing" and "empty" peppering the conversation.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Baker is known for peppering his executives with a never-ending stream of ideas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 2026
Sometimes he sounds almost rushed, peppering his narration with “so forths,” and making his readers play odds-or-evens to attribute long stretches of dialogue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2025
She turned around and stuck her face between her and Dad’s seats, peppering Mom with questions about Iran, about Yazd, about Mamou and Babou.
From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram
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