Whortleberry - Definitions from Dictionary.com

5 results for: Whortleberry

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

whor·tle·ber·ry

Audio Help [hwur-tl-ber-ee, wur-] Pronunciation Key

–noun, plural -ries.

1.	the edible black berry of a Eurasian shrub, Vaccinium myrtillus, of the heath family.

2.	the shrub itself.

Also, hurtleberry.

[Origin: 1570–80; dial. var. of hurtleberry

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Whortleberry

To learn more about Whortleberry visit Britannica.com

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

whor·tle·ber·ry Audio Help (hwûrt'l-běr'ē, wûrt'-) Pronunciation Key
n.

Either of two deciduous shrubs, Vaccinium myrtillus, of Eurasia, or V. corymbosum, of eastern North America, having edible blackish berries.
The fruit of either of these plants.

[Dialectal variant of hurtleberry, from Middle English hurtilberi : perhaps alteration of hurt, an azure-colored ball (from Old French heurte) + berye, beri, berry; see berry.]

(Download Now or Buy the Book)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
whortleberry

1578, southwestern Eng. variant of hurtleberry (see huckleberry).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

whortleberry
noun
1.	erect European blueberry having solitary flowers and blue-black berries [syn: bilberry]
2.	blue-black berries similar to American blueberries [syn: bilberry]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Whortleberry

Huc"kle*ber`ry\, n. [Cf. Whortleberry.] (Bot.) (a) The edible black or dark blue fruit of several species of the American genus Gaylussacia, shrubs nearly related to the blueberries (Vaccinium), and formerly confused with them. The commonest huckelberry comes from G. resinosa. (b) The shrub that bears the berries. Called also whortleberry.

Squaw huckleberry. See Deeberry.

Browse Nearby Entries: