pepper
Americannoun
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peppers
plural
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a pungent condiment obtained from various plants of the genus Piper, especially from the dried berries, used whole or ground, of the tropical climbing shrub P. nigrum.
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any plant of the genus Piper.
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any of several plants of the genus Capsicum, especially C. annuum, cultivated in many varieties, or C. frutescens.
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the usually green or red fruit of any of these plants, ranging from mild to very pungent in flavor.
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the pungent seeds of several varieties of C. annuum or C. frutescens, used ground or whole as a condiment.
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Baseball. pepper game.
verb (used with object)
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peppers,
present (3rd person singular)
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peppered,
past participle, past
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peppering
present participle
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to season with or as if with pepper.
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to sprinkle or cover, as if with pepper; dot.
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to sprinkle like pepper.
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to hit with rapidly repeated short jabs.
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to pelt with or as if with shot or missiles.
They peppered the speaker with hard questions.
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to discharge (shot or missiles) at something.
noun
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a woody climbing plant, Piper nigrum, of the East Indies, having small black berry-like fruits: family Piperaceae
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the dried fruit of this plant, which is ground to produce a sharp hot condiment See also black pepper white pepper
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any of various other plants of the genus Piper See cubeb betel kava
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Also called: capsicum. any of various tropical plants of the solanaceous genus Capsicum, esp C. frutescens, the fruits of which are used as a vegetable and a condiment See also bird pepper sweet pepper red pepper cayenne pepper
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the fruit of any of these capsicums, which has a mild or pungent taste
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the condiment made from the fruits of any of these plants
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any of various similar but unrelated plants, such as water pepper
verb
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to season with pepper
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to sprinkle liberally; dot
his prose was peppered with alliteration
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to pelt with small missiles
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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peppersimple
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pepperssimple
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have pepperedperfect
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has pepperedperfect
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am pepperingprogressive
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are pepperingprogressive
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is pepperingprogressive
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have been pepperingperfect progressive
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has been pepperingperfect progressive
Past
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pepperedsimple
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had pepperedperfect
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was pepperingprogressive
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were pepperingprogressive
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had been pepperingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pepper
before 1000; Middle English peper, piper, Old English pipor (> Old Norse pipari, piparr ) < Latin piper < Greek péperi; compare Old Frisian piper, Dutch peper, Old High German pfeffar ( German Pfeffer ); these and Old English pipor perhaps < a common West Germanic borrowing < Latin
Explanation
The black spice you sprinkle on your food to make it taste more flavorful? That's pepper. If your soup is a little bland, try adding some salt and pepper. Pepper starts out as a tiny fruit called a peppercorn. Once harvested and dried, these are ground into a powder and become what we think of as pepper. Other kinds of pepper include white pepper, which is a variation on black pepper, and the vegetables known as peppers, including sweet bell peppers and spicy jalapeño peppers. As a verb, pepper means "fill with scattered items," like the way you might pepper your essay with sophisticated vocabulary words to impress your teacher.
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:
For a stronger peach and pepper flavor, let the mixture simmer toward the longer end of the range.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
"But these pellets are not safe. They can result in life-changing or, occasionally, life-threatening injuries. They also pepper the body with toxic lead, which can sometimes be difficult to remove safely," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
She would make bowties in a light Parmesan sauce with peas, ham and an indecent amount of black pepper.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026
Pretti’s last act had been to try to defend someone from pepper spray.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
I was hoping for river prawns in my traps that day, because river prawn okro soup with hot pepper was a favorite of Ma’s, and Klenam made it just as well as she did.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
Even when the tomatoes are gone and the bread stall is picked clean, you can usually find some jar of something sharp, spicy and brined: giardiniera, hot peppers, spicy dills, pickled carrots.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
Chipotle says it has removed jalapeños from some of its restaurants after determining the peppers could be tied to a salmonella outbreak public health officials are investigating.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Food producer Taylor Farms is recalling a swathe of its fresh products containing jalapeno peppers after a salmonella outbreak.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
The California-based company said Sunday that it was voluntarily pulling the products because they contained jalapeño peppers tied to an earlier recall by Coast Citrus Distributors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
I especially liked the ones with tiny bits of hot peppers crushed into the meat.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
As I peppered him with questions about the pink car and the Brinks armored truck, he remained cagey while slowly yielding information.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
Reaction was quick, sad and peppered with family memories.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
But some residents say the giant statue is not the best way to represent the Catholic faith, in a country already peppered with religious monuments, including numerous memorials to Polish pope John Paul II.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
“I’m just trying to get Justice Alito’s vote,” veteran litigator Lisa Blatt said as she was being peppered with technical questions about plea bargains.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Ruth looked the same, but her speech was peppered with words and phrases she’d picked up in England, like “I imagine” and “I suppose” and “presumably.”
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
The executive sounded undeterred by the risks of a takeover of Kenvue during his call with analysts and investors, peppering his remarks with personal anecdotes and cracks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2025
Sometimes he sounds almost rushed, peppering his narration with “so forths,” and making his readers play odds-or-evens to attribute long stretches of dialogue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2025
He’s a compulsive name-dropper, peppering his speeches with boring stories whose only point is to exaggerate his relationship to famous people.
From Salon ● Sep. 10, 2025
The Diddy trial has been full of nonstop drama: from constant bickering between the legal teams to outbursts and altercations inside and outside the courthouse, all peppering a constant stream of utterly shocking testimonies.
From Slate ● Jun. 10, 2025
Moonlight glinting on Finnick’s bronze hair, beads of searing pain peppering me, a leg turned to wood.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
