Prunus serotina n 1: large North American wild cherry with round black sour edible fruit [syn: black cherry, black cherry tree, rum cherry, Prunus serotina]

Cherry \Cher"ry\, n. [OE. chery, for cherys, fr. F. cerise (cf. AS. cyrs cherry), fr. LL. ceresia, fr. L. cerasus Cherry tree, Gr. ?, perh. fr. ? horn, from the hardness of the wood.] 1. (Bot.) A tree or shrub of the genus Prunus (Which also includes the plum) bearing a fleshy drupe with a bony stone; (a) 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 M['e]doc in France). (b) The wild cherry; as, Prunus serotina (wild black cherry), valued for its timber; P. Virginiana (choke cherry), an American shrub which bears astringent fruit; P. avium and P. Padus, European trees (bird cherry). 2. The fruit of the cherry tree, a drupe of various colors and flavors. 3. The timber of the cherry tree, esp. of the black cherry, used in cabinetmaking, etc. 4. A peculiar shade of red, like that of a cherry. Barbadoes cherry. See under Barbadoes. Cherry bird (Zo["o]l.), an American bird; the cedar bird; -- so called from its fondness for cherries. Cherry bounce, cherry brandy and sugar. Cherry brandy, brandy in which cherries have been steeped. Cherry laurel (Bot.), an evergreen shrub ({Prunus Lauro-cerasus}) common in shrubberies, the poisonous leaves of which have a flavor like that of bitter almonds. Cherry pepper (Bot.), a species of Capsicum ({C. cerasiforme}), with small, scarlet, intensely piquant cherry-shaped fruit. Cherry pit. (a) A child's play, in which cherries are thrown into a hole. --Shak. (b) A cherry stone. Cherry rum, rum in which cherries have been steeped. Cherry sucker (Zo["o]l.), the European spotted flycatcher ({Musicapa grisola}); -- called also cherry chopper cherry snipe. Cherry tree, a tree that bears cherries. Ground cherry, Winter cherry, See Alkekengi.

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