winter cherry

noun

1. Also called Chinese lantern plant. a Eurasian ground cherry, Physalis alkekengi, of the nightshade family, bearing fruit enclosed in a showy, orange-red, inflated calyx.

2. the red, berrylike fruit of this plant.

winter cherry

noun

1. a Eurasian solanaceous plant, Physalis alkekengi, cultivated for its ornamental inflated papery orange-red calyx

2. the calyx of this plant

Word History and Origins

Origin of winter cherry¹

First recorded in 1540–50

Example Sentences

The undergrowth was bright with the vivid green foliage and brilliant scarlet berries of the winter cherry.

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It is a huge monster, extending over eight valleys and eight hills, its eyes red like winter cherries, its belly bloody and inflamed, and its back overgrown with moss and conifers.

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The company then rowed away for Cartagena, eating their "mellions and winter cherries" with a good appetite.

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In front of her lay the island where grew the Cape gooseberries, or winter cherries as they are sometimes called, which she came to seek.

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