dogberry

¹ American  

[dawg-ber-ee, -buh-ree, dog-] / ˈdɔgˌbɛr i, -bə ri, ˈdɒg- /

noun

plural

dogberries

1. the berry or fruit of any of various plants, as the European dogwood, Cornus sanguinea, the chokeberry, Aronia arbutifolia, or the mountain ash, Sorbus americana.

2. the plant itself.

3. any of several plants, especially the dog rose, bearberry, and guelder rose.

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Dogberry ² American  

[dawg-ber-ee, -buh-ree, dog-] / ˈdɔgˌbɛr i, -bə ri, ˈdɒg- /

noun

plural

Dogberrys

1. a foolish constable in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.

2. any foolish, blundering, or stupid official.

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dogberry ¹ British  

/ -brɪ, ˈdɒɡˌbɛrɪ, -bərɪ /

noun

1. any of certain plants that have berry-like fruits, such as the European dogwood or the bearberry

2. the fruit of any of these plants

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dogberry ² British  

/ -brɪ, -bərɪ, ˈdɒɡˌbɛrɪ /

noun

1. (sometimes capital) a foolish, meddling, and usually old official

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Other Word Forms

• dogberryism noun

Etymology

Origin of dogberry

First recorded in 1545–55; dog + berry

Example Sentences

The returning midwife, angry at Alyce for ignoring her earlier, set her to do all the least pleasant chores: roasting frogs’ livers, boiling snails into jelly, stripping the thorns from dogberry roses.

From "The Midwife's Apprentice" by Karen Cushman

Blood will tell, so the hoarhound joined forces with the dogberry and chased the catnip up my family tree.

From You Should Worry Says John Henry by McHugh, Hugh

To make matters worse I drank some dogberry cordial and it chased the catnip tea all over my concourse.

From You Should Worry Says John Henry by McHugh, Hugh

Of their remedies for disease, the following were those the most frequently resorted to:— For pains in the stomach, a decoction of the rind of the dogberry was drank.

From Lecture on the Aborigines of Newfoundland Delivered Before the Mechanics' Institute, at St. John's, Newfoundland, on Monday, 17th January, 1859 by Noad, Joseph

This abuse may be discovered by opening the berries: those of buckthorn have almost always four seeds; of the alder, two; and of the dogberry, only one.

From A Treatise on Adulterations of Food, and Culinary Poisons Exhibiting the Fraudulent Sophistications of Bread, Beer, Wine, Spiritous Liquors, Tea, Coffee, Cream, Confectionery, Vinegar, Mustard, Pepper, Cheese, Olive Oil, Pickles, and Other Articles Employed in Domestic Economy by Accum, Friedrich Christian