pepper
Americannoun
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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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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
- pepperer noun
- pepperish adjective
- pepperishly adverb
- unpeppered adjective
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
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.
A badger peppered with gray fur threw his head back and laughed, a raucous sound that invited others to join.
From Literature
Cahillane said the board peppered him with questions but came around quickly, encouraged by his optimism that Kraft Heinz’s problems could be fixed.
Ma moved into dragon fruit in 2020, as an alternative to coffee and pepper cultivation.
From BBC
The convoluted story, peppered with various twists, lacks momentum.
From Los Angeles Times
Finish with torn basil, a decisive grind of black pepper, perhaps a small squeeze of lemon if it needs brightness.
From Salon
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.
