berry
1 Americannoun
-
berries
plural
-
any small, usually stoneless, juicy fruit, irrespective of botanical structure, as the huckleberry, strawberry, or hackberry.
-
Botany. a simple fruit having a pulpy pericarp in which the seeds are embedded, as the grape, gooseberry, currant, or tomato.
-
a dry seed or kernel, as of wheat.
-
the hip of the rose.
-
one of the eggs of a lobster, crayfish, etc.
-
Older Slang. the berries, someone or something very attractive or unusual.
verb (used without object)
-
berries,
present (3rd person singular)
-
berried,
past participle, past
-
berrying
present participle
-
to gather or pick berries.
We went berrying this morning.
-
to bear or produce berries.
noun
-
Charles Edward Anderson Chuck, 1926–2017, U.S. rock-'n'-roll singer, musician, and composer.
-
Also Berri. a former province in central France.
noun
-
any of various small edible fruits such as the blackberry and strawberry
-
botany an indehiscent fruit with two or more seeds and a fleshy pericarp, such as the grape or gooseberry
-
any of various seeds or dried kernels, such as a coffee bean
-
the egg of a lobster, crayfish, or similar animal
verb
-
to bear or produce berries
-
to gather or look for berries
noun
-
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)
-
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
-
A simple fruit that has many seeds in a fleshy pulp. Grapes, bananas, tomatoes, and blueberries are berries.
-
Compare drupe pome See more at simple fruit
-
A seed or dried kernel of certain kinds of grain or other plants such as wheat, barley, or coffee.
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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
berrysimple
-
berriessimple
-
have berriedperfect
-
has berriedperfect
-
am berryingprogressive
-
are berryingprogressive
-
is berryingprogressive
-
have been berryingperfect progressive
-
has been berryingperfect progressive
Past
-
berriedsimple
-
had berriedperfect
-
was berryingprogressive
-
were berryingprogressive
-
had been berryingperfect progressive
Future
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-
Vocabulary lists containing berry
Spelling Practice, Unit 8
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Spelling Practice, Unit 3
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
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:
All of this emotion is baked into “Travelin’ Thru” with the love and care of a Dolly Parton berry pie.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026
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
Those include rival Rogue’s mango-flavored pouches and Velo’s wild berry and dragon fruit flavors.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
In contrast, the low PPO mixed berry smoothie produced flavanol levels similar to the capsule control.
From Science Daily ● May 24, 2026
Then the bird closest to the berries in each row would take a berry carefully and hold it out to the bird next to him in his beak.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
![]()
Berry has chased gains in megacap tech names including Nvidia, Amazon and SpaceX.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
Many, like 41-year-old Kunal Berry, are buoyed by the success of the artificial-intelligence trade and optimistic about the technology’s potential to transform business and the economy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
Aubry, whom Berry shares with ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry, spoke against her former stepfather Martinez and in support of her mother in a declaration filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
Four of the party's five MPs - Ellie Chowns, Adrian Ramsay and Carla Denyer, Sian Berry - had publicly opposed it, with Denyer arguing it could risk "alienating a significant proportion of Jewish people".
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
With more scare in her eyes than I had ever seen before, Mama looked at me and said, “Jay Berry, are you all right?”
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
![]()
For other fruit, such as berries, you might only have a few days.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
His team investigated urolithin A, or UroA, a naturally occurring microbial metabolite produced by gut bacteria after the digestion of foods including pomegranates, walnuts and berries.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026
Most traditional foodstuffs, such as nuts or zereshk -- small red berries used in Persian cuisine -- remain available, however.
From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026
We shared stories with a gooseberry-pie baker, whose mother had trimmed the berries, much as my mother had in her last years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
He decorated our evergreen tree with strings of berries and paper chains.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
![]()
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
Large numbers of "berried" lobsters are also captured, the eggs brushed off, and the lobsters sold as ordinary female lobsters.
From The Lobster Fishery of Maine Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission, Vol. 19, Pages 241-265, 1899 by John N. (John Nathan) Cobb
It was the day I went to the circus, and you told me not to tell daddy the cat was deadn' berried.
From The Blue Lagoon: a romance by H. De Vere (Henry De Vere) Stacpoole
She began to take a pride in making the cabin as comfortable as circumstances would allow, even going to the trouble of seeking berried evergreens in the woods and transforming these into table decoration.
From Colorado Jim by George Goodchild
They spoke most of the weather, and mentioned fishing, berrying and hunting as often as art.
From Time Magazine Archive
![]()
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
![]()
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
![]()
Reached camp before 2 P. M. tired and very warm, having walked at least fourteen miles, well pleased with our success at berrying.
From An Artilleryman's Diary by Jenkins Lloyd Jones
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.