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berrying

[ber-ee] Origin

ber·ry

[ber-ee] noun, plural -ries, verb, -ried, -ry·ing.
noun
1.
any small, usually stoneless, juicy fruit, irrespective of botanical structure, as the huckleberry, strawberry, or hackberry.
2.
Botany. a simple fruit having a pulpy pericarp in which the seeds are embedded, as the grape, gooseberry, currant, or tomato.
3.
a dry seed or kernel, as of wheat.
4.
the hip of the rose.
5.
one of the eggs of a lobster, crayfish, etc.
EXPAND
6.
the berries, Older Slang. someone or something very attractive or unusual.
COLLAPSE
verb (used without object)
7.
to gather or pick berries: We went berrying this morning.
8.
to bear or produce berries.

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Berrying is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.

Origin:
before 1000; Middle English berie, Old English beri(g)e; cognate with Old Saxon, Old High German beri (German Beere), Old Norse ber < Germanic basjá-; akin to Dutch besie, Gothic -basi < Germanic básja-

ber·ry·less, adjective
ber·ry·like, adjective

Barry, berry, bury.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

berry
O.E. berie, a word that perhaps meant "grapes" at first, from P.Gmc. *basjom (cf. O.N. ber, M.Du. bere, Ger. beere), of unknown origin. This and apple are the only native fruit names.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
berry   (běr'ē)  Pronunciation Key 
  1. A simple fruit that has many seeds in a fleshy pulp. Grapes, bananas, tomatoes, and blueberries are berries. Compare drupe, pome. See more at simple fruit.

  2. A seed or dried kernel of certain kinds of grain or other plants such as wheat, barley, or coffee.


Our Living Language  : Cucumbers and tomatoes aren't usually thought of as berries, but to a botanist they are in fact berries, while strawberries and raspberries are not. In botany, a berry is a fleshy kind of simple fruit consisting of a single ovary that has multiple seeds. Other true berries besides cucumbers and tomatoes are bananas, oranges, grapes, and blueberries. Many fruits that are popularly called berries have a different structure and thus are not true berries. For example, strawberries and raspberries are aggregate fruits, developed from multiple ovaries of a single flower. The mulberry is not a true berry either. It is a multiple fruit, like the pineapple, and is made up of the ovaries of several individual flowers.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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