Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

chokeberry

[chohk-ber-ee, -buh-ree]
noun, plural choke·ber·ries.
  1. the berrylike fruit of any North American shrub of the genus Aronia, of the rose family, especially A. arbutifolia (red chokeberry), A. melanocarpa (black chokeberry), or A. prunifolia (purple chokeberry).
  2. the plant that bears this fruit.
Show More

Origin of chokeberry

An Americanism dating back to 1770–80; choke + berry
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for chokeberry

Historical Examples

  • Chokeberry, buckthorn, elder berry, and mulberry will attract birds away from blackberry and raspberry patches.

    The Library of Work and Play: Outdoor Work

    Mary Rogers Miller

  • There were thickets of aronia or chokeberry, whose flat white blossoms and reddish bark showed its kinship to the apple tree.

    Everyday Adventures

    Samuel Scoville

  • She afterwards discovered that the pink juice of chokeberry did very well for lips, cheeks, and gay dresses.

British Dictionary definitions for chokeberry

chokeberry

noun plural -ries
  1. any of various North American rosaceous shrubs of the genus Aronia
  2. the red or purple bitter fruit of any of these shrubs
Show More
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