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.

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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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• barberries
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of barberry

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

barberry barberries

‘Concorde’ is an especially compact barberry with deep burgundy foliage that holds throughout the summer before turning crimson in fall, together with the ripening rose hips.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 15, 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

Amy Louise flew to her mother, while the other two girls walked briskly up the short distance from the barberry hedge to the porch.

From Betty Lee, Freshman by Harriet Pyne Grove

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

Growing up in her family’s kitchens in and around Atlanta, Tabatabai learned to flavor dishes with traditional Iranian ingredients; barberries for rice, dried black limes and pomegranate molasses for stews.

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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