checkerberry

American  

[chek-er-ber-ee] / ˈtʃɛk ərˌbɛr i /

noun

checkerberries plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• checkerberries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of checkerberry

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

checkerberry checkerberries

Almost every one knows the little cherry-red wintergreen berry or checkerberry, and almost every one likes its sweet aromatic flavor but few would care to make a meal of it.

From On the Trail An Outdoor Book for Girls by Beard, Lina

There's a powerful lot of them in the woods, like sassafras root and checkerberry and things like that.

From The Ranger Boys and the Border Smugglers by Labelle, Claude A.

There was a twisted red-and-white stick of peppermint, pink checkerberry, clear barley—a stick of every kind in the glass jars in Mr. Rose's store window.

From Young Lucretia and Other Stories by Freeman, Mary Eleanor Wilkins

We taste still the sting of checkerberry and woodsy flavor of the fragrant birch.

From Meadow Grass Tales of New England Life by Brown, Alice

“Now I will have a fine surprise for her when she awakes,” and the little girl tiptoed noiselessly back to the edge of the woods, where she had noticed a quantity of checkerberry leaves.

From A Little Maid of Old Maine by Curtis, Alice Turner

Lizzy walked away, and began hunting checkerberries with an unusual ardor.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 02, No. 10, August, 1858 by Various

The checkerberries and beechnuts were just ripe, and 142 very good.

From A Northern Countryside by Richards, Rosalind

"I'm going now, Jake," said Roxie, hesitating a little, and finally concluding not to mention the checkerberries, lest her father or brother should object to her going alone into the wilder part of the forest.

From St. Nicholas, Vol. 5, No. 5, March, 1878 by Various

Then this,” and he pointed at the maskalonge, “broiled on a pointed stick, with a handful of checkerberries for dessert, and I think you and I will be about ready to begin work in earnest!”

From Darkness and Dawn by England, George Allan

Let her learn the difference between huckleberries and blackberries, learn where checkerberries grow thickest and dig up sweet flag root with her own hands as country children do.

From Dr. Hardhack's Prescription A Play for Children in Four Acts by Rice, Katharine McDowell