whortleberry

[ hwur-tl-ber-ee, wur- ]

noun,plural whor·tle·ber·ries.

the edible black berry of a Eurasian shrub, Vaccinium myrtillus, of the heath family.
the shrub itself.

Origin of whortleberry

First recorded in 1570–80; dialectal variant of hurtleberry

Also hurtleberry.

Words Nearby whortleberry

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use whortleberry in a sentence

The baked sweet apple and whortleberry seem to be least objectionable.
Vegetable Diet: As Sanctioned by Medical Men, and by Experience in All Ages | William Andrus Alcott
Fay leaned out of the pony carriage and picked from the high bank a spray of whortleberry with a butterfly poised on it.
Prisoners | Mary Cholmondeley
Two heaths of arborescent growth and a whortleberry cover large tracts on the mountains.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 17, Slice 3 | Various
Around it were beds of red phlox, red whortleberry bushes, and wild sunflowers.
The Log School-House on the Columbia | Hezekiah Butterworth
At Raddevski several kinds of berries were offered us, but only the blackberry and whortleberry were familiar to my eyes.
Overland through Asia; Pictures of Siberian, Chinese, and Tartar Life | Thomas Wallace Knox

British Dictionary definitions for whortleberry

whortleberry

/ (ˈwɜːtəlˌbɛrɪ) /

nounplural -ries

Also called : huckleberry, (dialect) hurt, whort a small Eurasian ericaceous shrub, Vaccinium myrtillus, greenish-pink flowers and edible sweet blackish berries
the fruit of this shrub

bog whortleberry a related plant, V. uliginosum, of mountain regions, having pink flowers and black fruits

Origin of whortleberry

C16: southwestern English dialect form of hurtleberry; of unknown origin

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

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