sloe
Americannoun
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the small, sour, blackish fruit of the blackthorn, Prunus spinosa, of the rose family.
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the shrub itself.
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any of various other plants of the genus Prunus, as a shrub or small tree, P. alleghaniensis, bearing dark-purple fruit.
noun
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the small sour blue-black fruit of the blackthorn
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another name for blackthorn
Etymology
Origin of sloe
before 900; Middle English slo, Old English slā ( h ); cognate with German Schlehe, Dutch slee
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.
Their plum-like, inky blue-purple sloe berries became synonymous with the English countryside.
From Washington Times • Jan. 1, 2024
It’s a wonderfully economic performance, all slouch and sloe eyes, offering a moral thermometer of the fallen world through which Raylan moves via Olyphant’s sly repertoire of expressions: grin, smirk, smile, hard stare, blank bemusement.
From New York Times • Jul. 17, 2023
Right now, I’m in a park, surrounded by new white sloe blossom, listening to Eden and trying not to let anyone see the faces I’m pulling.
From The Guardian • Feb. 26, 2019
It is believed that Suffolk Pink dates back to the 14th Century and other natural ingredients such as elderberries, blackthorn or sloe juice were also added to create the colour.
From BBC • Jan. 12, 2018
He sharpened a quill with his small pen knife to scribe these things in sloe or lampblack?
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
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.
