berry

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A small, juicy fruit that grows on a bush or vine and is eaten fresh or cooked, such as a blueberry or raspberry.

   Grammar: Countable: a berry, some berries; berries are picked in summer.

   Patterns

   • pick berries
   • a bowl of berries

   We picked wild berries along the path and ate them on the spot.

   She topped the pancakes with fresh berries.

   Birds feasted on the red berries on the holly bush.

2. 2nouncountablebiologytechnical

   In botany, a fruit with many seeds inside a soft fleshy body that grows from one flower, such as a grape, tomato or banana.

   Grammar: In scientific use the word is wider than in everyday life: a tomato counts as a berry.

   Patterns

   • a true berry

   Botanists classify a tomato as a berry because the seeds sit in soft flesh.

   A banana is a berry, though a strawberry is not.

   In the lab we sorted fruits into berries, drupes and pods.

Word forms

Common combinations

pick berries

On Saturday we went to pick berries on the farm.

wild berries

Wild berries grow along the hedge.

ripe berries

The ripe berries were sweet and dark.

mixed berries

He ordered yogurt with mixed berries.

berry bush

A thorny berry bush grows beside the shed.

berry jam

She makes berry jam every July.

Synonyms and how they differ

fruit

Fruit is a broader word that includes apples and melons, while berry refers to small, soft, juicy kinds.

drupe

A drupe is a fruit with one hard stone, such as a cherry, which is different from a true berry.

soft fruit

Soft fruit is a British grouping that includes berries and currants, but it is less specific than berry.

Word family

berries noun

plural form

blueberry noun

a small dark blue berry

strawberry noun

a red fruit with seeds on the outside

Commonly confused: berry or bury? berry or Barry?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “berry”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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