[froot] 
noun, plural fruits, (especially collectively
) fruit, verb | 1. | any product of plant growth useful to humans or animals. |
| 2. | the developed ovary of a seed plant with its contents and accessory parts, as the pea pod, nut, tomato, or pineapple. |
| 3. | the edible part of a plant developed from a flower, with any accessory tissues, as the peach, mulberry, or banana. |
| 4. | the spores and accessory organs of ferns, mosses, fungi, algae, or lichen. |
| 5. | anything produced or accruing; product, result, or effect; return or profit: the fruits of one's labors. |
| 6. | Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. a male homosexual. |
| 7. | to bear or cause to bear fruit: a tree that fruits in late summer; careful pruning that sometimes fruits a tree. |
In botany, the part of a seed-bearing plant that contains the fertilized seeds capable of generating a new plant (see fertilization). Fruit develops from the female part of the plant. Apples, peaches, tomatoes, and many other familiar foods are fruits.
fruit
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fruit (fr t) Pronunciation Key
The ripened ovary of a flowering plant that contains the seeds, sometimes fused with other parts of the plant. Fruits can be dry or fleshy. Berries, nuts, grains, pods, and drupes are fruits. ◇ Fruits that consist of ripened ovaries alone, such as the tomato and pea pod, are called true fruits. ◇ Fruits that consist of ripened ovaries and other parts such as the receptacle or bracts, as in the apple, are called accessory fruits or false fruits. See also aggregate fruit, multiple fruit, simple fruit., See Note at berry. Our Living Language : To most of us, a fruit is a plant part that is eaten as a dessert or snack because it is sweet, but to a botanist a fruit is a mature ovary of a plant, and as such it may or may not taste sweet. All species of flowering plants produce fruits that contain seeds. A peach, for example, contains a pit that can grow into a new peach tree, while the seeds known as peas can grow into another pea vine. To a botanist, apples, peaches, peppers, tomatoes, pea pods, cucumbers, and winged maple seeds are all fruits. A vegetable is simply part of a plant that is grown primarily for food. Thus, the leaf of spinach, the root of a carrot, the flower of broccoli, and the stalk of celery are all vegetables. In everyday, nonscientific speech we make the distinction between sweet plant parts (fruits) and nonsweet plant parts (vegetables). This is why we speak of peppers and cucumbers and squash—all fruits in the eyes of a botanist—as vegetables. |