bramble

American  

[bram-buhl] / ˈbræm bəl /

noun

1. any prickly shrub belonging to the genus Rubus, of the rose family.

2. British. the common blackberry.

3. any rough, prickly shrub, as the dog rose.

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verb (used without object)

• brambles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• brambled,
  past participle,  past
• brambling
  present participle

1. British. to look for and gather wild blackberries; pick blackberries from the vine.

bramble British  

/ ˈbræmbəl /

noun

1. any of various prickly herbaceous plants or shrubs of the rosaceous genus Rubus , esp the blackberry See also stone bramble

2. 1. a blackberry

   2. ( as modifier )

      bramble jelly

3. any of several similar and related shrubs

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verb

1. to gather blackberries

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• brambly
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• brambling
  present
• brambled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• bramble
  simple
• brambles
  simple
• have brambled
  perfect
• has brambled
  perfect
• am brambling
  progressive
• are brambling
  progressive
• is brambling
  progressive
• have been brambling
  perfect progressive
• has been brambling
  perfect progressive

Past

• brambled
  simple
• had brambled
  perfect
• was brambling
  progressive
• were brambling
  progressive
• had been brambling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will bramble
  simple
• will have brambled
  perfect
• will be brambling
  progressive
• will have been brambling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of bramble

before 1000; Middle English; Old English bræmbel, variant of brǣmel, equivalent to brǣm- (cognate with Dutch braam broom ) + -el noun suffix

Explanation

A bramble is a bush or plant that's covered in thorns. You'll want to wear long pants if you're going to trek through the brambles looking for your lost cat. Those rough, prickly shrubs that grow along the fence and in which you're always losing your Frisbee? You can call them brambles. This word is most common in Britain, where it sometimes refers specifically to blackberry bushes. In fact, some Britons even call blackberries themselves "brambleberries." The Old English root is bræmbel.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bramble brambles brambled brambling

This year, while contemplating navigating the bramble of union strike rules about what’s promotable during Hollywood’s dual writer-actor stoppages, the longtime Humanitas Prizes for screenwriters encountered an additional complication.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2023

The bramble was so thick, police used ladder trucks to peer into sections that could not be searched by foot.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 14, 2023

This lively red from the Beaujolais cru appellation of Morgon is rich with cherry and bramble flavors.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 12, 2023

Ms Anderson says she used to watch her neighbour cook bramble jam, and "eventually, when she had enough confidence in my own cooking, she gave me her jam pan", she says.

From BBC ● Dec. 28, 2022

We heard them approach, and fled along the riverside, stepping through high grass and bramble.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

Some locals think the capybara is thriving in her newfound independence, enjoying the hot summer from thick Hampshire brambles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

We passed by apple, nectarine and pear trees, then blackberry brambles as large as a football field.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2024

Meanwhile, in nearby pastures and olive groves, the buildup of grasses, brush, and brambles was kept under control through a combination of livestock grazing, manual brush cutting, and occasional managed burning.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 26, 2024

Raspberries are brambles, part of the absurdly large genus Rubus.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 3, 2024

He crawled back into the brambles and laid himself by Frodo’s side, and putting away all fear he cast himself into a deep untroubled sleep.

From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien

That face — all determination and brambled beard — still fronts much of the league’s promotional material, including its “Don’t Cross the Line” campaign, which is aimed at improving fans’ behaviour.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 17, 2017

Or, bowling peacefully upon my bike, Well breakfasted, by no distractions flustered, Pause near a leafy copse or brambled dyke, And answer song for song the black-backed shrike, The curlew and the bustard.

From Punch or the London Charivari, Volume 158, March 24, 1920. by Various

The road back to Nature is full of her own secrets, and few who have trod the streets of the city remember the brambled return, or care.

From Every Soul Hath Its Song by Fannie Hurst

Thy feet she leads to glittering peaks, while mine She guides midst brambled roadways.

From The Poems of Emma Lazarus, Volume 2 Jewish poems: Translations by Emma Lazarus

We knew not then how time passed, and could but dimly guess how things were going beyond the brambled copse in which we fought.

From In the Valley by Harold Frederic

Your account of the greater brambling, or snow-fleck, is very amusing; and strange it is that such a short-winged bird should delight in such perilous voyages over the northern ocean!

From The Natural History of Selborne by Gilbert White

Your account of the greater brambling, or snow-fleck, is very amusing; and strange it is that such a short-winged bird should delight in such perilous voyages over the northern ocean. 

From The Natural History of Selborne, Vol. 1 by Henry Morley