cherry

cherry — noun

1. a round, small fruit with a soft red or dark outer skin and one hard seed inside

1.nounB2
Definition

a round, small fruit with a soft red or dark outer skin and one hard seed inside, or the tree that produces this fruit

Example

Ravi picked a bowl of fresh cherries from the tree in his garden.

cherry + tree, picking cherries

The cherry trees along Bei's street burst into white blossoms every March.

cherry tree + blossom

Common collocations
  • cherry tree
  • cherry blossom
  • cherry pie
  • cherry stone
  • pick cherries
  • a bowl of cherries
Synonyms
  • berry

    a small soft fruit with many tiny seeds; cherries are not true berries botanically but are grouped with them in recipes

  • stone fruit

    broader category including peaches, plums, and apricots — cherries belong to this family

Grammar Patterns

cherry + noun (cherry pie, cherry tree)

Usage Note

Countable — you can say a cherry (one fruit) or cherries (many). The same word refers to both the fruit and the tree; context makes the meaning clear.

Common Mistakes

I ate a cherry and spat out the seed.
I ate a cherry and spat out the stone.
the hard part inside a cherry is called a stone, not a seed.
Idioms

a bite at/of the cherry

idiom

an opportunity to do something, especially something that you may not get again

You only get one bite at the cherry in life, so make it count.

The team knew this was their only bite of the cherry, and they gave it everything.

a second bite of the cherry

idiom

a second chance to do something after failing or missing the first opportunity

The exam board allowed students a second bite of the cherry by offering a retake.

She thought she had lost the deal, but the client gave her a second bite of the cherry.

cherry on top / the cherry on (top of) the cake

idiom

the final detail that makes something already good even better or perfect

We had a lovely dinner, and the live music was the cherry on top.

Winning the award was wonderful, but the bonus was the cherry on the cake.

cherry — adjective

Word family

  • cherry-red
    adjectiveB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Cherry, berry, grape, and plum are all small fruits eaten fresh, but they differ in structure and use. A cherry has a single hard stone inside, whereas a berry (like a blueberry or strawberry) has many tiny seeds throughout its flesh. Grapes grow in clusters and have soft seeds (or none in seedless varieties), and their skin is thinner than a cherry's. Plums are larger than cherries, with a similar single stone but a firmer, thicker skin and juicier flesh. In cooking, cherries are commonly used in pies, jams, and desserts; berries go into jams and smoothies; grapes are eaten fresh or made into wine; and plums are often baked into cakes or preserved as dried prunes.

cherry ↗berry ↗grape ↗plum

Common collocations

Nouns

  • cherry pie
  • cherry blossom
  • cherry tree
  • cherry stone
  • cherry orchard
  • cherry season

Phrases

  • a bowl of cherries
  • cherry on top

Prepositions

  • cherry in (a salad, a pie)
  • cherry on (a cake, top)

Etymology

GreekLatinOld Northern FrenchEnglish

The word cherry comes from the Old Northern French word cherise, which came from the Latin ceresia, based on the Greek kerasos, meaning 'cherry tree' or 'cherry'. English speakers originally borrowed cherise as a singular noun, but because it ended in an 's' sound, they thought it was a plural and removed the 's' to make the singular cherry. This same process happened with the word pea (from pease).