berry

plural berries

1. A small succulent fruit, of any one of many varieties.
2. biologyA soft fruit which develops from a single ovary and contains seeds not encased in pits.
3. A coffee bean.
4. One of the ova or eggs of a fish or crustacean.

   The crabs carry their berries for six months.

   1877, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, Parliamentary Papers - Volume 24, page 7

   4 more examples

   That is the only restriction existing: not even small fish or fish in berry, and there are no restrictions on soft-shelled fish.

   1913, Journals and Printed Papers of the Parliament of Tasmania, page 94

   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.

   1914, Cape of Good Hope (South Africa). Provincial Council, Minutes and Ordinances - Volume 5, page 3

   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.

   1960, Friedrich Simon Bodenheimer, Animal and Man in Bible Lands: Supplement, page 86

   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.

   1965, Fishery Bulletin of the Fish and Wildlife Service - Volume 65, page 55

5. USslangAfrican-AmericanA police car.

   Today was like one of those fly dreams Didn't even see a berry flashin' those high beams

   1992, Ice Cube, “It Was a Good Day”, in The Predator

6. USdatedslangA dollar.

   Four rounds and Enright still on his feet and a hundred and fifty thousand berries gone if he stays two more!

   1921, Collier's, volume 67, page 365

present singular third person berries · participle present berrying · participle past berried · past berried

1. intransitiveTo pick berries.

   On summer days Grandma used to take us berrying, whether we wanted to go or not.

   1 more example

   Partly because I always itched and prickled in a berry patch I may have been disinclined to nibble as I worked; but largely I think it was because I berried under a master strategist and I wanted to see how well we could coordinate our efforts...

   1988, Early American Life, page 35

2. To bear or produce berries.

plural berries · alternative berye · alternative berie

1. dialectalA mound; a barrow.

plural berries

1. dialectalA burrow, especially a rabbit's burrow.
2. An excavation; a military mine.

present singular third person berries · participle present berrying · participle past berried · past berried

1. transitiveTo beat; give a beating to; thrash.
2. transitiveTo thresh (grain).

1. A surname from Middle English.
2. A male given name transferred from the surname.

   Beresford Conway. All my pals call me Berry.

   1930 P. G. Wodehouse, Big Money, Colliers' Weekly, Vol.86, page 110

   1 more example

   Since my father's name was Berry Gordy, he named me Berry Gordy. There's no middle name.

   1979, Berry Gordy, Movin' Up. Pop Gordy Tells His Story, Harper & Row, →ISBN, page 9

3. A place name:
   1. A town in Fayette County, Alabama, United States, named after Thompson Berry.
   2. A minor city in Harrison County, Kentucky, United States.
   3. A town in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States.
   4. A municipality in Abitibi Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada.
   5. A village in the City of Shoalhaven, New South Wales, Australia, named after Alexander Berry.

1. rareA female given name from English.

   "I'm Beryl Shaddock. Call me Berry," the girl said.

   2002, James Hadley Chase, Not My Thing, House of Stratus, →ISBN, page 152

   1 more example

   "What's with your dad calling you 'Berry' anyway? What kind of name is 'Berry'?" "Oh, it's short for Huckleberry," she replied, as if that explained everything.

   2005, Sandra-Kay Austin, The Old Man's Secret, Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, page 34

1. A former province in Centre-Val de Loire region, France.