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sloes

 - 4 dictionary results

sloe

  [sloh]
Use sloes in a Sentence
–noun
1. the small, sour, blackish fruit of the blackthorn, Prunus spinosa, of the rose family.
2. the shrub itself.
3. any of various other plants of the genus Prunus, as a shrub or small tree, P. alleghaniensis, bearing dark-purple fruit.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME slo, OE slā(h); c. G Schlehe, D slee

black⋅thorn

  [blak-thawrn]
–noun
1. a shrub or tree of the genus Crataegus, as C. calpodendron.
2. a walking stick made of a blackthorn tree or shrub.
3. Also called sloe. a much-branched, thorny, Old World shrub, Prunus spinosa, having white flowers and small plumlike fruits.
4. pear haw.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME blak thorn. See black, thorn
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To sloes
sloe   (slō)   
n.  

  1. See blackthorn.

  2. Either of two eastern North American plum trees or shrubs, Prunus alleghaniensis, having dark purple fruit, or P. americana, having yellow or red fruit.

  3. The tart plumlike fruit of either of these plants.


[Middle English slo, from Old English slā; see sleiə- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

sloe 
"fruit of the blackthorn," O.E. slah (pl. slan), from P.Gmc. *slaikhwon (cf. M.Du., Du. slee, O.H.G. sleha, Ger. Schlehe), from PIE *sleie- "blue, bluish, blue-black" (see livid). Sloe-eyed is attested from 1867; sloe gin first recorded 1895.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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