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• berry
  berry

  noun

  any small, usually stoneless, juicy fruit, irrespective of botanical structure, as the huckleberry, strawberry, or hackberry.
• Berry
  Berry

  noun

  Charles Edward Anderson Chuck, 1926–2017, U.S. rock-'n'-roll singer, musician, and composer.

berry

¹ American  

[ber-ee] / ˈbɛr i /

noun

• berries
  plural

1. any small, usually stoneless, juicy fruit, irrespective of botanical structure, as the huckleberry, strawberry, or hackberry.

2. Botany. a simple fruit having a pulpy pericarp in which the seeds are embedded, as the grape, gooseberry, currant, or tomato.

3. a dry seed or kernel, as of wheat.

4. the hip of the rose.

5. one of the eggs of a lobster, crayfish, etc.

6. Older Slang. the berries, someone or something very attractive or unusual.

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verb (used without object)

• berries,
  present (3rd person singular)
• berried,
  past participle,  past
• berrying
  present participle

1. to gather or pick berries.

   We went berrying this morning.

2. to bear or produce berries.

Berry ² American  

[ber-ee, be-ree] / ˈbɛr i, bɛˈri /

noun

1. Charles Edward Anderson Chuck, 1926–2017, U.S. rock-'n'-roll singer, musician, and composer.

2. Also Berri. a former province in central France.

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berry ¹ British  

/ ˈbɛrɪ /

noun

1. any of various small edible fruits such as the blackberry and strawberry

2. botany an indehiscent fruit with two or more seeds and a fleshy pericarp, such as the grape or gooseberry

3. any of various seeds or dried kernels, such as a coffee bean

4. the egg of a lobster, crayfish, or similar animal

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verb

1. to bear or produce berries

2. to gather or look for berries

Berry ² British  

noun

1. Chuck , full name Charles Edward Berry . born 1926, US rock-and-roll guitarist, singer, and songwriter. His frequently covered songs include "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), "Johnny B. Goode" (1958), "Memphis, Tennessee" (1959), and "Promised Land" (1964)

2. Jean de France (ʒɑ̃ də frɑ̃s), Duc de. 1340–1416, French prince, son of King John II; coregent (1380–88) for Charles VI and a famous patron of the arts

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berry Scientific  

/ bĕr′ē /

1. A simple fruit that has many seeds in a fleshy pulp. Grapes, bananas, tomatoes, and blueberries are berries.

2. Compare drupe pome See more at simple fruit

3. A seed or dried kernel of certain kinds of grain or other plants such as wheat, barley, or coffee.

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Usage

What does berry mean? A berry is a small, stoneless, juicy fruit. Commonly, a berry is any small fruit that has no pit and usually produces juice. Berries range from sweet, such as the blueberry, to sour, such as the raspberry. In botany, a berry is specifically a fruit with a pulpy outer wall and many seeds. Botanically, then, some fruits commonly thought of as berries are not actually berries, including strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries. Fruits that botanically are berries include blueberries, bananas, grapes, and tomatoes. Less commonly, berry can also refer to a dry seed or kernel. As a verb, to berry means to pick berries or to produce berries. Example: We picked berries today, filling up three whole baskets.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• berried
  adjective
• berryless
  adjective
• berrylike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• berries
  plural

Participles

• berrying
  present
• berried
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• berry
  simple
• berries
  simple
• have berried
  perfect
• has berried
  perfect
• am berrying
  progressive
• are berrying
  progressive
• is berrying
  progressive
• have been berrying
  perfect progressive
• has been berrying
  perfect progressive

Past

• berried
  simple
• had berried
  perfect
• was berrying
  progressive
• were berrying
  progressive
• had been berrying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will berry
  simple
• will have berried
  perfect
• will be berrying
  progressive
• will have been berrying
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of berry

before 1000; Middle English berie, Old English beri ( g ) e; cognate with Old Saxon, Old High German beri ( German Beere ), Old Norse ber < Germanic basjá-; akin to Dutch besie, Gothic -basi < Germanic básja-

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

berry Berry berries berried berrying

The single star was painted in berry juice, as was the bear, which looked so porcine that Mexicans who were struggling to protect California from Yankee rogues mocked it as more pig than bear.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

Many people are reconsidering their Caesar salad lunches and berry breakfasts as cases of cyclosporiasis, the explosive-diarrhea illness, continue to rise in the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

Participants drank a banana based smoothie, a mixed berry smoothie, and a flavanol capsule used as a control.

From Science Daily ● May 24, 2026

A vegan version works just as well: silken tofu or vegan cream cheese blended with coconut cream and a little berry jam, perfect with grapes or berries.

From Salon ● Mar. 9, 2026

Singer put a berry in his mouth and though the juice had a lush, wild sweetness there was already a subtle flavor of decay.

From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers

Residents on Heol Berry, where the flooding took place, were also told they will be offered assistance with temporary housing.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

Kaye then turned his attention once more to the defendant, who was headed to Knott’s Berry Farm to celebrate his graduation with family.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

Each Beeswax Mixed Berry Birthday Candles set is cast from real mixed berries — strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and cherries.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

Speaking was officially permitted during small group meetings led by the retreat’s teachers, Annie Nugent and Devin Berry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026

“Jay Berry, what on earth are you doing? You turn that goose loose.”

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls

Grizzly bears are — were — omnivores, not picky eaters, and also lazy ones, noshing on berries, roots, acorns, beached whale carcasses and any laggardly young elk.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

Cyclospora is a parasite that contaminates leafy greens, berries and herbs.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026

This summer, people are looking askance at the lettuce leaves perched atop their burgers and the berries swimming in their ice tea.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

Experts also advise people avoid certain foods such as fresh uncooked berries and herbs, unpeeled fruit and salad items.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

Maybe because of the way they taste the berries are rarely eaten by game early in the fall when they come ripe.

From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen

The floral arrangements used “English foliage — holly, berried ivy and red skimmia,” and the tree was to be recycled to be viewed by holiday visitors to Windsor.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 25, 2022

In fall, masses of winter pansies, ornamental kale and berried shrubs replace tender plantings in the massive window box and containers, while the trim boxwood hedges and clipped hollies carry the show throughout winter.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 27, 2021

"Eigh—poor Meary! hoo's to be berried here this mornin," observed Bess, emptying the bottle of sherris into a pot, and placing the latter on the fire.

From The Lancashire Witches A Romance of Pendle Forest by William Harrison Ainsworth

And I forgot thee as the berried holly By shepherds is forgotten, when in June, Tall chesnuts keep away the sun and moon, I rushed into the folly!

From Heathen Mythology by Various

I thereupon swarmed the shrub, plucked and tossed the richly berried boughs to the poor little chap.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. CLVIII, January 7, 1920 by Various

They spoke most of the weather, and mentioned fishing, berrying and hunting as often as art.

From Time Magazine Archive

I’m beginning to think she’s gone fishing or berrying and will not return until dusk.

From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

Of course, I’m not going to follow her, although it would be easier than playing On the Track, the game we made up when went berrying or food gathering.

From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

Joe and Marly did so much berrying, what with strawberries and then red raspberries and then blackberries, that Joe said he was absolutely berried-out.

From "Miracles on Maple Hill" by Virginia Sorensen

Then, too, these children of the north go berrying and bring home many a dish of delicious black crow-berries.

From Little Folks of North America Stories about children living in the different parts of North America by Mary Hazelton Blanchard Wade

Related Words

• bean
• grain
• kernel