gooseberry

gooseberry
noun Date: 1573 1. a. the acid usually prickly fruit of any of several shrubs (genus Ribes, especially R. hirtellum of the United States and R. uva-crispa of Europe) grouped especially formerly in the saxifrage family but now often placed in a separate family (Grossulariaceae, the gooseberry family) b. a shrub bearing gooseberries 2. currant 2

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

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  • Gooseberry — Goose ber*ry, n.; pl. {Gooseberries}, [Corrupted for groseberry or groiseberry, fr. OF. groisele, F. groseille, of German origin; cf. G. krausbeere, kr[ a]uselbeere (fr. kraus crisp), D. kruisbes, kruisbezie (as if crossberry, fr. kruis cross;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • gooseberry — 1530s, perhaps from Ger. Krausebeere or Kräuselbeere, related to M.Du. croesel gooseberry, and to Ger. kraus crispy, curly [Klein, etc.]. Under this theory, gooseberry would be folk etymology. But OED editors find no reason to prefer this to a… …   Etymology dictionary

  • gooseberry — [go͞os′ber΄ē, go͞os′bə rē; go͞oz′ber΄ē, go͞oz′bə rē] n. pl. gooseberries [as if < GOOSE + BERRY, but prob. folk etym. form for * grose berie, akin to dial. grosel, gooseberry (< Fr groseille), Du kruisbezie, Ger krausbeere] 1. a small, sour …   English World dictionary

  • gooseberry — ► NOUN (pl. gooseberries) 1) a round edible yellowish green berry with a hairy skin, growing on a thorny shrub. 2) Brit. informal a third person in the company of two lovers, who would prefer to be alone. ORIGIN the first element perhaps from… …   English terms dictionary

  • Gooseberry — Taxobox name = Gooseberry image width = 250px image caption = Cultivated Eurasian gooseberry regnum = Plantae divisio = Magnoliophyta classis = Magnoliopsida ordo = Saxifragales familia = Grossulariaceae genus = Ribes species = R. uva crispa… …   Wikipedia

  • gooseberry — /goohs ber ee, beuh ree, goohz /, n., pl. gooseberries. 1. the edible, acid, globular, sometimes spiny fruit of certain prickly shrubs belonging to the genus Ribes, of the saxifrage family, esp. R. uva crispa (or R. grossularia). 2. a shrub… …   Universalium

  • gooseberry — [16] Probably, when all is said and done, gooseberry is simply a compound of goose and berry. But no one has ever been able to explain satisfactorily why the gooseberry should have been named after the goose, and there has been no lack of… …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • gooseberry — [16] Probably, when all is said and done, gooseberry is simply a compound of goose and berry. But no one has ever been able to explain satisfactorily why the gooseberry should have been named after the goose, and there has been no lack of… …   Word origins

  • gooseberry — UK [ˈɡʊzb(ə)rɪ] / US [ˈɡusˌberɪ] noun [countable] Word forms gooseberry : singular gooseberry plural gooseberries a small green fruit with a sour taste that grows on a bush and can be cooked to make sweet foods gooseberry pie/crumble/jam • be a… …   English dictionary

  • gooseberry — noun a) A fruit closely related to the currant. We had a good haul of gooseberries from our tree this year. b) Any of several other unrelated fruits, such as the Chinese gooseberry (kiwifruit) and the Indian gooseberry (amla). Robert and Susan… …   Wiktionary

  • gooseberry — paprastasis agrastas statusas T sritis vardynas apibrėžtis Agrastinių šeimos maistinis, vaisinis, vaistinis augalas (Ribes uva crispa), paplitęs šiaurės Afrikoje ir vidurio Europoje. atitikmenys: lot. Grossularia reclinata; Ribes grossularia;… …   Lithuanian dictionary (lietuvių žodynas)

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