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teaberry

[tee-ber-ee, -buh-ree]
noun, plural tea·ber·ries.
  1. the spicy red fruit of the American wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbens.
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Origin of teaberry

First recorded in 1790–1800; tea + berry
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for tea-berry

Historical Examples

  • Molly, feeling a touch of rheumatism, was somewhere in the lower thicket seeking a tea-berry tonic.

    Lobo, Rag and Vixen

    Ernest Seton-Thompson

British Dictionary definitions for tea-berry

teaberry

noun plural -ries
  1. the berry of the wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens)
  2. another name for wintergreen (def. 1)
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Word Origin

C19: so called because its dried leaves have been used as a substitute for tea
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

Word Origin and History for tea-berry

n.

American wintergreen, 1818, from tea + berry, so called because the dried berries were used as a substitute for tea.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper