hackberry

American  

[hak-ber-ee, -buh-ree] / ˈhækˌbɛr i, -bə ri /

noun

hackberries plural

1. any of several trees or shrubs belonging to the genus Celtis, of the elm family, bearing cherrylike fruit.

2. the sometimes edible fruit of such a tree.

3. the wood of such a tree.

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hackberry British  

/ ˈhækˌbɛrɪ /

noun

1. any American tree or shrub of the ulmaceous genus Celtis, having edible cherry-like fruits

2. the fruit or soft yellowish wood of such a tree

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• hackberries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of hackberry

1775–85, variant of hagberry (of Scandinavian origin)

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hackberry hackberries

Over three decades, neighborhood foresters have transformed Dunbar Spring’s bald curbsides into lush forests of mesquite, hackberry, cholla and prickly pear cactus and more—all plants that have edible parts.

From Salon ● Jan. 29, 2024

Here grow maple, oak, hickory, cottonwood, sycamore, river birch, hackberry, fronds bowed under climbing English ivy, with winter creeper spreading underfoot.

From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 2023

He gestured to a row of freshly planted hackberry trees in the old parking lane.

From Slate ● Mar. 30, 2023

Todd’s tee shot had flown left and come to rest against the trunk of a hackberry tree.

From Golf Digest ● Nov. 18, 2019

Standing beside the hackberry shrubs with hundreds of empty desiccated cocoons still clinging to their branches and a carpet of butterfly corpses under her feet, La Llorona did not look anything like a malevolent specter.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall

In Staten Island and eastern Queens, including Elmhurst and Laurelton, we’ll plant hackberries and junipers.

From New York Times ● Apr. 22, 2022

They stalked deer as the animals drank from an ancient lake and gathered hackberries and nuts from chestnut and walnut trees lining nearby rivers.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 22, 2016

The bridge there is hidden in summer by a grove of hackberries.

From Golden Stories A Selection of the Best Fiction by the Foremost Writers by Various

They left the island behind, and soon White Bear saw the hundred lodges of Saukenuk through the weeping willows, hackberries, maples and oaks that grew along the riverbank.

From Shaman by Shea, Robert

Here his remaining horses kept themselves alive by browsing in the timber while the men were compelled to live on what hackberries they could find.

From The Indians' Last Fight Or The Dull Knife Raid by Collins, Dennis