briony

[ brahy-uh-nee ]

/ ˈbraɪ ə ni /

noun, plural bri·o·nies.

bryony.

Nearby words

bryony

or bri·o·ny

[ brahy-uh-nee ]

/ ˈbraɪ ə ni /

noun, plural bry·o·nies.

any Old World vine or climbing plant belonging to the genus Bryonia, of the gourd family, yielding acrid juice having emetic and purgative properties.

Origin of bryony

before 1000; Middle English brionie, Old English bryōnia < Latin < Greek: a wild vine

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for briony

When romancing the dewy Briony, the cosmopolitan New Yorker Andrew sounds like the creepy European Humbert Humbert.
The Brain Man: What is E. L. Doctorow Up to?|Tom LeClair|January 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The girl sat before him swathed in a darkness, with the edges of the briony leaves shining deadly—radiant above—young Hecate!
Sandra Belloni, Complete|George Meredith
Let her take two or three spoonfuls of briony water each morning.
The Works of Aristotle the Famous Philosopher|Anonymous
To-day there was neither gravedigger nor robin—only the soft drip, drip of the rain on dock and thistle, fern and briony.
Mount Royal, Volume 2 of 3|Mary Elizabeth Braddon

The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood upon the steps.
The Lock And Key Library|Various
It was the bit of briony which I had carried unwittingly a long, long way, through all my first shock of trouble.
The Days of My Life|Mrs. Oliphant

British Dictionary definitions for briony

briony

/ (ˈbraɪənɪ) /

noun plural -nies

a variant spelling of bryony

bryony

briony

/ (ˈbraɪənɪ) /

noun plural -nies

any of several herbaceous climbing plants of the cucurbitaceous genus Bryonia, of Europe and N AfricaSee also black bryony, white bryony

Word Origin for bryony

Old English bryōnia, from Latin, from Greek bruōnia

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