berry

berry — noun

1. a small juicy fruit from certain bushes or trees, often eaten fresh or used in j

1.nounB2
Definition

a small juicy fruit from certain bushes or trees, often eaten fresh or used in jam

Example

Lena picked berries near the wooden fence behind her grandmother's house.

pick berries

By July, ripe berries filled the basket on Noah's bike.

collocation: ripe berries

Common collocations
  • wild berries
  • ripe berries
  • berry bush
  • berry jam
  • mixed berries
Synonyms
  • fruit

    a much broader word; a berry is one particular kind of fruit

  • soft fruit

    a market or gardening term for delicate small fruits such as berries

Grammar Patterns

pick berries

eat berries

berries for jam

Usage Note

Often plural when people talk about several fruits together, and common with words like ripe, wild, pick, and jam.

Common Mistakes

We picked three berry by the gate.
We picked three berries by the gate.
After a number, the countable noun normally takes the plural form berries.

2. a deep red shade with some purple or pink mixed into it

2.nounC1
Definition

a deep red shade with some purple or pink mixed into it

Example

In the catalog, berry looked warmer than plain dark red.

berry as a colour name

For the wedding cards, Mei chose berry instead of pink.

choose berry

Common collocations
  • berry shade
  • berry lipstick
  • berry paint
  • berry scarf
Synonyms
  • burgundy

    usually darker and browner than berry

  • wine

    another fashion colour word for a deep red shade

  • maroon

    often browner and less pink or purple than berry

Grammar Patterns

choose berry

paint in berry

berry on a colour chart

Usage Note

Usually uncountable when naming a colour on paint cards, clothing labels, and product lists.

berry — adjective

berry — verb

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

For this sense, berry is a fairly general word for small juicy fruits such as strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. Fruit is much broader and does not tell the listener what kind you mean. Grape is usually smaller and grows in bunches on a vine, not on a bush. Cherry is also round, but it is often firmer and has a hard stone in the middle. Use berry when the exact type is unknown, or when several kinds are mixed together, as in mixed berries or berry jam. If the kind matters, name it directly: blueberry bushes and cherry trees give a clearer picture than the broader word berry.

berry ↗fruit ↗grape ↗cherry ↗

Etymology

Proto-GermanicOld EnglishEnglish

Berry comes from Old English berie, from an older Germanic word for this kind of small fruit. English first used the word for the fruit itself. Later, the colour senses grew from the dark red or purple shades that many berries have.