maraschino cherry

American

noun

a cherry cooked in colored syrup and flavored with maraschino, used to garnish desserts, cocktails, etc.

maraschino cherry British

noun

a cherry preserved in maraschino or an imitation of this liqueur, used as a garnish

"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

Etymology

Origin of maraschino cherry

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

maraschino cherry

Caporale also suggests swapping the traditional maraschino cherry garnish for something more elevated, like a braided twist of citrus peels.

From Salon ● Jan. 18, 2026

Monday night’s national championship game is the maraschino cherry atop the sundae of post-season college football.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 7, 2022

Pour in cream soda and top with a maraschino cherry.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 29, 2021

The maraschino cherry was my demented Slate Plus soliloquy about how to make the movie Love, Actually even better.

From Slate ● Nov. 25, 2020

A disgruntled Minute Man with poor aim flung a maraschino cherry in the general direction of Otto’s head.

From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023