gooseberry

American  

[goos-ber-ee, -buh-ree, gooz-] / ˈgusˌbɛr i, -bə ri, ˈguz- /

noun

gooseberries plural

1. the edible, acid, globular, sometimes spiny fruit of certain prickly shrubs belonging to the genus Ribes, of the saxifrage family, especially R. uva-crispa (orR. grossularia ).

2. a shrub bearing this fruit.

---

gooseberry British  

/ ˈɡʊzbərɪ, -brɪ /

noun

1. a Eurasian shrub, Ribes uva-crispa (or R. grossularia ), having greenish, purple-tinged flowers and ovoid yellow-green or red-purple berries: family Grossulariaceae See also currant

2. 1. the berry of this plant

   2. ( as modifier )

      gooseberry jam

3. informal an unwanted single person in a group of couples, esp a third person with a couple (often in the phrase play gooseberry )

4. a tropical American solanaceous plant, Physalis peruviana, naturalized in southern Africa, having yellow flowers and edible yellow berries See also ground cherry

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• gooseberries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of gooseberry

First recorded in 1525–35; goose + berry

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gooseberry gooseberries

This possesses herbal and nutty tones on the palate alongside a good concentration of gooseberry and kiwi fruit flavors — nice texture.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 4, 2024

Eventually, if all goes as hoped, patches of Gary oak, desert gooseberry, and mock orange will take hold and a lush ribbon of cottonwood, willow, and ash trees will line the banks of the river.

From Science Magazine ● Oct. 18, 2023

All Indians have dozens of pickles at their disposal: assorted or mixed pickles, lime, chili, gooseberry — the list goes on.

From Salon ● Apr. 8, 2022

Light-bodied, racy acidity with the characteristic grassy, gooseberry flavors of New Zealand savvie.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 13, 2022

Wrestling twenty-five pounds of sugar back from Moore’s Store was nothing to picking all the gooseberry bushes clean.

From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck

This year, several new fruits made their debut, including purple gooseberries, which taste almost like grape-flavored candy, Davis said, and aronia berries, which are considered one of the richest sources of plant antioxidants.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 8, 2023

Spicy green mango is a staple of achar throughout India, though you'll also find achars made from carrots, gooseberries, lemons and limes while scouring the country's infinite, technicolor markets.

From Salon ● Mar. 15, 2023

The once-popular description of New Zealand sauvignon blanc as “cat pee on a gooseberry bush” had Americans flummoxed, because we mostly don’t eat gooseberries.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 13, 2021

Ms. Prabakaran’s mother-in-law, though, scheduled her days around food, preserving new batches of seasonal pickles every week, sending Ms. Prabakaran home with jars of gooseberries in yogurt, sweet-and-sour orange peel and stuffed Bengal plums.

From New York Times ● Jan. 6, 2020

In the mountain forests, where groups of students were often sent to gather wood, Shin ate wild grapes, gooseberries, and Korean raspberries by the fistful.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden