gooseberry
English
editEtymology
editFrom goose + berry. It is possible that the first element was originally something related to the gros- of French groseille and/or the kruis- of Dutch kruisbes but has been altered by folk etymology.
Pronunciation
edit- (US) IPA(key): /ˈɡusˌbɛɹi/
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɡʊzb(ə)ɹi/, /ˈɡuːsb(ə)ɹi/
Audio (US): (file) Audio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
editgooseberry (plural gooseberries)
- A fruit of species Ribes uva-crispa, related to the currant.
- Synonym: (UK informal) goosegog
- We had a good haul of gooseberries from our bushes this year.
- Any other plant or fruit in the subgenus Grossularia, distinguished from currants by bearing spines, including Ribes hirtellum (American gooseberry).
- Any of several other plants that are not closely related but bear fruit in some way similar:
- Chinese gooseberry or kiwifruit, the edible berry of a cultivar group of the woody vine Actinidia deliciosa and hybrids between this and other species in the genus Actinidia
- Indian gooseberry (Phyllanthus emblica), emblic, amla.
- Ceylon gooseberry, a species of Dovyalis native to Sri Lanka and southern India
- Barbados gooseberry (Pereskia aculeata), an unusual cactus
- Long Key locustberry or shiny locustberry (Byrsonima lucida)
- Jamaican gooseberry tree (Phyllanthus acuminatus), a herb-like plant
- star gooseberry
- Otaheite gooseberry (Phyllanthus acidus)
- Katuk (Sauropus androgynus), a shrub grown in some tropical regions as a leaf vegetable
- Physalis angulata, also called balloon cherry and cutleaf groundcherry
- Cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana), indigenous to South America
- poison gooseberry (Withania somnifera)
- (dated, British slang) A chaperone.[1]
- (chiefly British) An additional person who is neither necessary nor wanted in a given situation.
- Synonyms: third wheel, fifth wheel
- Robert and Susan were so in love with each other that nobody could go near them without feeling like a gooseberry.
- 1915, L[ucy] M[aud] Montgomery, “In the Park”, in Anne of the Island, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, →OCLC:
- "But," said Philippa dolefully, "if I go I'll have to be gooseberry, and that will be a new experience for Philippa Gordon."
- 1993 October 21, Rob Grant, Doug Naylor, Gunmen of the Apocalypse (Red Dwarf), season 6, episode 3, spoken by Dave Lister (Craig Charles):
- Kryten, you are a total gooseberry. Next time I play on the AR machine I'm going to give you some money and send you to the pictures.
- (dated, British slang) A fool.[1]
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:fool
- (dated, British slang) A fantastic story; a tall tale; a hoax.[1][2]
- (dated, British slang, vulgar, usually in the plural) A testicle.[1]
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:testicles
Derived terms
edit- Cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana)
- Chinese gooseberry (Actinidia spp.)
- Coromandel gooseberry (Averrhoa carambola)
- do gooseberry
- gooseberry dieback
- gooseberry eye
- gooseberry-eyed
- gooseberry-grinder
- gooseberry lay
- gooseberry mildew
- gooseberry-picker
- gooseberry pudding
- gooseberry rust (Aecidium grossulariae, Puccinia caricina var. pringsheimiana, Podosphaera mors-uvae)
- gooseberry season
- gooseberry tart
- gooseberry tree
- gooseberry wig
- green as a gooseberry
- Missouri gooseberry
- Old Gooseberry
- pick gooseberry
- play gooseberry
- sea gooseberry, sea-gooseberry (Pleurobrachia pileus)
- spreading gooseberry (Ribes divaricatum)
Translations
editfruit
|
additional person
|
References
edit- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 John S[tephen] Farmer; W[illiam] E[rnest] Henley, compilers (1893) “gooseberry”, in Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present. […], volume III, [London: […] Harrison and Sons] […], →OCLC, pages 182–184.
- ^ Albert Barrère and Charles G[odfrey] Leland, compilers and editors (1889–1890) “gooseberry”, in A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant […], volume I (A–K), Edinburgh: […] The Ballantyne Press, →OCLC, page 419.
Categories:
- English compound terms
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English dated terms
- British slang
- British English
- English terms with quotations
- English vulgarities
- en:Berries
- en:Cacti
- en:Malpighiales order plants
- en:Nightshades
- en:People
- en:Saxifragales order plants
- en:Willows and poplars
- en:Groundcherries