Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of several spiny shrubs of the genus Ribes, especially R. uva-crispa of Eurasia, having lobed leaves, greenish flowers, and edible greenish to yellow or red berries.
- noun The fruit of any of these plants.
- noun Any of several plants bearing similar fruit.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The farkleberry, Batodendron arboreum: doubtless so called from its somewhat similar fruit. See
farkleberry . - noun The Coromandel goosebery (which see).
- noun One of several species of Polycodium. See
squaw-huckleberry . - noun The berry or fruit of a plant of the genus Ribes, or the plant itself; in botany, a general term for the species of the genus Ribes which belong to the section Grossularia, as the name currant is applied to those of the section Ribesia.
- noun A silly person; a goosecap.
- Relating to or made of gooseberries: as, gooseberry wine.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Bot.) Any thorny shrub of the genus Ribes; also, the edible berries of such shrub. There are several species, of which
Ribes Grossularia is the one commonly cultivated. - noun A silly person; a goose cap.
- noun a climbing prickly shrub (
Pereskia aculeata ) of the West Indies, which bears edible berries resembling gooseberries. - noun See
Carambola . - noun See 1st
Fool . - noun (Zoöl.) the larva of a small moth (
Dakruma convolutella ). It destroys the gooseberry by eating the interior.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
fruit closely related to thecurrant . - noun Any of several other unrelated fruits, such as the
Chinese gooseberry (kiwifruit ) and the Indian gooseberry (amla ). - noun chiefly UK An additional person who is neither necessary nor wanted in a given situation.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun currant-like berry used primarily in jams and jellies
- noun spiny Eurasian shrub having greenish purple-tinged flowers and ovoid yellow-green or red-purple berries
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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It was reported that while acting as "gooseberry" -- a role usually assigned to her -- between Virginia Piper and an exceptionally timid young surveyor, during a ramble she conceived a rare sentiment of humanity towards the unhappy man.
Under the Redwoods Bret Harte 1869
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The line of intensive-treatment products, designed to repair dehydrated and damaged hair, has a secret ingredient: Indian gooseberry, which is rarely used in products sold in the United States.
Neil George’s Golden Gooseberry: Lindsey Keenan Keenan, Lindsey 2008
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I also scored some interesting looking IKEA jam, gooseberry, which is a favorite of mine, and cloudberry, which I have never yet tasted.
Around Pittsburgh Lindy 2008
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I also scored some interesting looking IKEA jam, gooseberry, which is a favorite of mine, and cloudberry, which I have never yet tasted.
Growing Food Lindy 2008
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Loudon thinks it signifies Feverberry, because of the cooling properties possessed by the gooseberry, which is scarcely probable.
Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure William Thomas Fernie
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In this humid climate the strawberry grows to an immense size; and the gooseberry, which is here in high favor, is a far finer fruit than with us.
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As nigh as I can make out it's a sort of gooseberry pie, but _I_ should never have called a gooseberry pie a 'sweet'; a 'sour' would have been better, accordin 'to my reckonin'.
Kent Knowles: Quahaug Joseph Crosby Lincoln 1907
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Excellent blackberries and a very large and full-flavored black raspberry grow at Newera Ellia; likewise the Cape gooseberry, which is of the genus "solanum."
Eight Years' Wanderings in Ceylon Samuel White Baker 1857
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The most interesting point in the history of the gooseberry is the steady increase in the size of the fruit.
The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, Vol. I. Charles Darwin 1845
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They can be used to flavour cooked fruit and jam and make a sound match with gooseberry, which is also great at this time of the year.
gangerh commented on the word gooseberry
Goodnight now Treeseed and anydelirium!
February 17, 2008
sarra commented on the word gooseberry
Naked Translations has a hint or two of why this term is used to mean a single person in the company of couples.
April 9, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word gooseberry
Good to learn this second meaning! In Italy, we say reggere la candela (to hold the candle) just the way French do (say, not hold the candle).
April 9, 2008
hernesheir commented on the word gooseberry
"The cultivated gooseberry, which dates in Britain only from the 16th century, was once peculiar to Lancashire and did not reach its zenith until a century ago. In 1857 a giant 250 year-old bush at Mount Pottinger, Belfast, yielded two stone of small amber-coloured berries before lightning killed it in late August. Its trunk was 9 in. thick and 4 ft. high, and its total height was 12 ft., with a 16-ft spread. It grew in a corner of the garden round which a road ran, and until quite modern days that part of the road was known as Gooseberry Corner." - C.J. Robb, Co. Down, Ireland, The Countryman, Autumn, 1957, p.571
November 2, 2009