barberry
Americannoun
plural
barberries-
a shrub of the genus Berberis, especially B. vulgaris, having yellow flowers in elongated clusters.
-
the red, elongated, acid fruit of this shrub.
noun
-
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
-
the fruit of any of these plants
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.
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
They dug out more than 30 barberry, nandina and other mature shrubs, but the makeover really picked up steam when Leider got his hands on a sod-cutter.
From Washington Post • Jul. 20, 2021
Not many rods from the vireos' cedar-tree was a brown thrasher's nest in a barberry bush.
From A Rambler's lease by Torrey, Bradford
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.