Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various trees or shrubs of the genus Prunus of the rose family, especially the sweet cherry or the sour cherry, native chiefly to northern temperate regions and having pink or white flowers and small juicy drupes.
  • noun The yellow, red, or blackish fruit of any of these plants.
  • noun The wood of any of these plants, especially the black cherry.
  • noun Any of various plants, such as the Barbados cherry or the cornelian cherry, having fruits resembling a cherry.
  • noun A moderate or strong red to purplish red.
  • noun Vulgar Slang The hymen considered as a symbol of virginity.
  • adjective Containing or having the flavor of cherries.
  • adjective Made of the wood of a cherry tree.
  • adjective Of a moderate or strong red to purplish red.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The service-berry.
  • noun A shrub or small tree, Eugenia uniflora, a native of South America, which produces luscious, bright-red, cherry-like fruit about an inch in diameter and agreeably acid. Also called Cayenne or Brazilian cherry and pitanga.
  • noun Prunus sphærocarpa, a small evergreen tree which ranges from southern peninsular Florida to the West Indies and Brazil.
  • noun generally to any of the native American cherries, as P. serotina, P. Virginiana, P. Pennsylvanica, etc., and particularly to the less-known species, such as P. emarginata, P. Alabamensis, and P. australis.
  • noun Improperly, P. angustifolia, the Chickasaw plum (which see, under plum).
  • A modification of cherish.
  • To impart a cherry color to; redden.
  • noun The fruit of species of Cerasus (which is commonly regarded as a subgenus of Prunus), consisting of a globose pulpy drupe inclosing a one-seeded smooth stone; also, a tree producing this fruit.
  • noun A name given to many different kinds of fruit which bear some resemblance to the common cherry. See phrases below.
  • noun The wood of the cherry-tree. In Australia, the fine-grained wood of Eugenia myrtifolia, and especially the very hard, compact, and durable wood of Exocarpus cupressiformis, used in ship-building and other strong work.
  • noun A cutter or countersink used in making bullet-molds.
  • Like a red cherry in color; red; ruddy; blooming: as, a cherry lip; cherry cheeks.
  • Made of cherry-wood: as, a cherry table.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) A tree or shrub of the genus Prunus (Which also includes the plum) bearing a fleshy drupe with a bony stone
  • noun The common garden cherry (Prunus Cerasus), of which several hundred varieties are cultivated for the fruit, some of which are, the begarreau, blackheart, black Tartarian, oxheart, morelle or morello, May-duke (corrupted from Médoc in France).
  • noun The wild cherry; as, Prunus serotina (wild black cherry), valued for its timber; Prunus Virginiana (choke cherry), an American shrub which bears astringent fruit; Prunus avium and Prunus Padus, European trees (bird cherry).
  • noun The fruit of the cherry tree, a drupe of various colors and flavors.
  • noun The timber of the cherry tree, esp. of the black cherry, used in cabinetmaking, etc.
  • noun A peculiar shade of red, like that of a cherry.
  • noun See under Barbadoes.
  • noun (Zoöl.) an American bird; the cedar bird; -- so called from its fondness for cherries.
  • noun cherry brandy and sugar.
  • noun brandy in which cherries have been steeped.
  • noun (Bot.) an evergreen shrub (Prunus Lauro-cerasus) common in shrubberies, the poisonous leaves of which have a flavor like that of bitter almonds.
  • noun (Bot.) a species of Capsicum (Capsicum cerasiforme), with small, scarlet, intensely piquant cherry-shaped fruit.
  • noun A cherry stone.
  • noun rum in which cherries have been steeped.
  • noun (Zoöl.) the European spotted flycatcher (Musicapa grisola); -- called also cherry chopper cherry snipe
  • noun a tree that bears cherries.
  • noun See Alkekengi.
  • adjective Like a red cherry in color; ruddy; blooming.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A small fruit, usually red, black or yellow, with a smooth hard seed and a short hard stem.
  • noun Prunus subg. Cerasus, trees or shrubs that bears cherries.
  • noun The wood of a cherry tree.
  • noun cherry red
  • noun slang Virginity, especially female virginity as embodied by a hymen.
  • noun graph theory A subtree consisting of a node with exactly two leaves.
  • adjective Containing or having the taste of cherries.
  • adjective Of a bright red colour.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English cheri, from Anglo-Norman cherise, variant of Old French cerise, from Vulgar Latin *ceresia, from *cerasia, from Greek kerasiā, cherry tree, from kerasos.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English cheri (loanword from Anglo-Norman, from Old Northern French cherise ("cherry")- compare Old French cerise, which gave modern French cerise and later English cerise from this). Cf. Old English ciris ("cherry"), (from Late Latin ceresia), which died out after the Norman invasion and was replaced by the French-derived word.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word cherry.

Examples

  • * Sprays Nick's afro and puts a cherry on top of it* At least I'm not a human dessert - thing * laughs* Nick: * eats the cherry* Fine.

    WN.com - Articles related to Purchasing and Auto, Understand the Terminology 2010

  • * Sprays Nick's afro and puts a cherry on top of it* At least I'm not a human dessert - thing * laughs* Nick: * eats the cherry* Fine.

    WN.com - Articles related to Purchasing and Auto, Understand the Terminology 2010

  • There are other Torani flavors you can experiment with if you want the eau without the menthe (the cherry is actually pretty good).

    The French Gift for Prosaics Linda 2008

  • But if by the word cherry you mean an unknown nature, distinct from all those sensible qualities, and by its existence something distinct from its being perceived; then, indeed, I own, neither you nor I, nor any one else, can be sure it exists.

    Mind Hacks: Berkeley's Cherry 2006

  • But if by the word cherry you mean an unknown nature, distinct from all those sensible qualities, and by its existence something distinct from its being perceived; then, indeed, I own, neither you nor I, nor any one else, can be sure it exists.

    Mind Hacks: September 2006 Archives 2006

  • But if by the word cherry you mean an unknown nature, distinct from all those sensible qualities, and by its existence something distinct from its being perceived; then, indeed, I own, neither you nor I, nor any one else, can be sure it exists.

    The Third Dialogue 1909

  • Joshua Kane wore skin-tight Superman briefs, knee-high red socks and a matching cape in preparation for what he called his "cherry poppin' undies fun run."

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2012

  • When you leave it to companies such as cable TV and the like, they do what we call cherry-pick - they go for the densest-populated areas and they leave the areas that are rural out of the picture.

    New Hampshire Public Radio 2009

  • When you leave it to companies such as cable TV and the like, they do what we call cherry-pick - they go for the densest-populated areas and they leave the areas that are rural out of the picture.

    New Hampshire Public Radio 2009

  • Whether your lander is in cherry condition and you just want to keep it running well, or you have one you found covered in dust in a warehouse in New Mexico, this manual can help you get the most out of your 1969 series lunar lander.

    Archive 2010-07-18 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • slang term meaning mint, original or virginal condition...also meaning excellent

    January 25, 2008

  • Neil Diamond: "Cherry, Cherry".

    February 8, 2008

  • also virginity

    June 18, 2008

  • ...all the while, her masts and yards were thickly clustered with men, as three tall cherry trees, when the boys are cherrying among the boughs.

    - Melville, Moby-Dick, ch. 128

    July 31, 2008