checkerberry

American  

[chek-er-ber-ee] / ˈtʃɛk ərˌbɛr i /

noun

plural

checkerberries

1. the red fruit of the American wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbens.

2. the plant itself.

3. any of several other plants bearing similar fruit, or the fruit itself.

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checkerberry British  

/ -brɪ, ˈtʃɛkəbərɪ /

noun

1. the fruit of any of various plants, esp the wintergreen ( Gaultheria procumbens )

2. any plant bearing this fruit

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Etymology

Origin of checkerberry

An Americanism dating back to 1770–80; perhaps so named from its appearance

Example Sentences

Both boys breathed deep of the piney fragrance and filled their mouths with pungent "checkerberry" leaves.

From Still Jim by Morrow, Honoré

I came to hunt for some simples...for spearmint and checkerberry and tansy.

From Patriotic Plays and Pageants for Young People by Mackay, Constance D'Arcy

"Best checkerberry in the State of Maine; cent apiece!" and he held out two sticks.

From The Wooing of Calvin Parks by Richards, Laura Elizabeth Howe

But when he saw a cluster of checkerberry plums in spring gleam withered red against gray moss, on some stony upland, he stood still and pondered.

From The Best Short Stories of 1921 and the Yearbook of the American Short Story by O'Brien, Edward J. (Edward Joseph Harrington)

Here were, indeed, great riches, "a little of everything" that pasture life affords: a hardy bed of checkerberry, crimson strawberries nodding on long stalks, and in one sequestered corner the beloved Linnaea.

From Tiverton Tales by Brown, Alice