berry
/ˈbɛɹi/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.97 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A coffee bean.
noun
One of the ova or eggs of a fish or crustacean.
Example Sentences
- "The crabs carry their berries for six months."
- "That is the only restriction existing: not even small fish or fish in berry, and there are no restrictions on soft-shelled fish."
- "These crawfish are speared by the Kafirs, who bring them in to the village for sale, and who catch anything and everything either female fish in berry, or male fish in soft shell."
- "The corals have the shape of a shrub and are green. Their berries are snow-white under water and soft. As soon as you take them out of the water, they grow hard and red."
- "McCormick (1934) stated that eggs in various stages of development were found in females at the same time that they were in berry, which indicates a long egg-laying season."
- "Today was like one of those fly dreams Didn't even see a berry flashin' those high beams"
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *bazją Proto-West Germanic *baʀi Old English berġe Middle English berie English berry From Middle English berie, from Old English berġe, from Proto-West Germanic *baʀi, from Proto-Germanic *bazją. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Bäie, West Flemish beier, German Beere, Icelandic ber, Danish bær. The slang sense "police car" may come from the lights on the vehicles' roofs.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: berie, berġe, *baʀi, *bazją, *bʰerǵʰ-, berȝe
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈbɛɹi/
- British English: /ˈbɛɹi/
Usage
- American usage
- Slang
- Dated
- Intransitive verb
- Transitive verb
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Medicine.
Inflected Forms
berries (plural)
berries (present, singular)
berrying (participle, present)
berried (participle, past)
berried (past)
berye (alternative)
berie (alternative)
Derived Forms
Phrases
acai berry
apple-berry
Avignon berry
balloon berry
berry alder
berry-bearing alder
berry blue
Berry Brow