bayberry

American  

[bey-ber-ee, -buh-ree] / ˈbeɪˌbɛr i, -bə ri /

noun

bayberries plural

1. any of several often aromatic trees or shrubs of the genus Myrica, as M. pensylvanica, of northeastern North America, and M. californica, of the western U.S.

2. the berry of such a plant.

3. bay.

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bayberry British  

/ ˈbeɪbərɪ /

noun

1. any of several North American aromatic shrubs or small trees of the genus Myrica , that bear grey waxy berries: family Myricaceae See also wax myrtle

2. Also called: bay rum tree.  a tropical American myrtaceous tree, Pimenta racemosa , that yields an oil used in making bay rum

3. the fruit of any of these plants

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Etymology

Origin of bayberry

First recorded in 1570–80; bay ⁴ + berry

Example Sentences

A fuzzy, freckled gull chick emerged from a bayberry bush, stared curiously at me as if it had spotted a Martian, and then waddled back to its hiding place.

From New York Times • Sep. 20, 2023

Now, it is a larger and maturing display that includes towering shrubs of buttonbush and bayberry amid lower drifts of lobelia, aster, swamp mallow, goldenrod and winterberry.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 27, 2021

In the heart of the garden, there are towering shrubs of buttonbush and bayberry amid lower drifts of lobelia, aster, swamp mallow, goldenrod and winterberry.

From Washington Post • Sep. 14, 2021

Once, it had been a joy to follow those roads through the evergreen forests—roads lined with bayberry and sweet fern, alder and huckleberry.

From The New Yorker • Jan. 3, 2017

Azaleas, mountain laurel, blueberries, huckleberries, viburnums, dogwood, bayberry, sweet fern, low shadbush, winterberry, chokecherry, and wild plum are dying before the chemical barrage.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson