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barberry

American  
[bahr-ber-ee, -buh-ree] / ˈbɑrˌbɛr i, -bə ri /

noun

barberries plural
  1. a shrub of the genus Berberis, especially B. vulgaris, having yellow flowers in elongated clusters.

  2. the red, elongated, acid fruit of this shrub.


barberry British  
/ ˈbɑːbərɪ /

noun

  1. any spiny berberidaceous shrub of the widely distributed genus Berberis , esp B. vulgaris , having clusters of yellow flowers and orange or red berries: widely cultivated as hedge plants

  2. the fruit of any of these plants

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of barberry

1350–1400; Middle English barbere < Medieval Latin barbaris (< Arabic barbāris ), with -baris conformed to bere 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:

Berberine is a chemical compound extracted from plants like goldenseal and barberry and often sold as a supplement, typically in capsules filled with yellow-tinged powder.

From Seattle Times Jun. 12, 2023

Plucking a thorn from a nearby Japanese barberry bush, he scraped the yellow dust off, revealing three painted dots underneath.

From New York Times Oct. 16, 2021

"Three of the most common ornamental species that are actually invasive are burning bush, privet, and barberry, but there are dozens of others."

From Salon Sep. 17, 2021

The brick Colonial-style home sat in an expanse of lawn that stretched from curb to foundation, with a few hedges of old-fashioned shrubs scattered around the edges, including the invasive exotic barberry.

From Washington Post Jul. 20, 2021

An alkaloid obtained, as a bitter, yellow substance, from the root of the barberry, gold thread, and other plants.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Webster, Noah

Acres of terraced growing areas and multiple greenhouses produced many native plants grown from seed collected around the park such as sumacs, ceanothus, yellow-blooming flannel bush, manzanitas, barberries, monkeyflowers, Catalina cherry, toyon and coffeeberry.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 26, 2024

His brisket is shawarma-inspired, served with stewed leeks, thyme and pickled barberries.

From Salon Sep. 14, 2023

The Indian mutanjan pulao is also evocative of the Persian Morasa Polow or jewelled rice that packs in shreds of chicken breast along with barberries, pistachio, raisins and orange peel.

From BBC Aug. 12, 2023

When Tabatabai’s grandfather was brewing in mid-20th-century Iran, this would have included Persian blue salt, barberries, sour cherries, sumac and black limes.

From Washington Post Feb. 10, 2023

One of my favorite Persian dishes, consisting of rice with saffron, chicken, and barberries.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi

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