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blackberrying

USBLAK-be-ree-ing/ˈblækbɛɹiɪŋ/UKBLAK-buh-ree-ing/ˈblækbəɹiɪŋ/

2 meanings of blackberrying

Practice

  1. 1
    verb
    Present participle and gerund of blackberry.

    They were blackberrying along the lane until the light faded.

    She loves blackberrying in the warm September sun.

    Note

    The verb form shows up in progressive sentences (they were blackberrying along the lane) and in gerunds that still behave like verbs, taking adverbs rather than adjectives. Because the verb blackberry can also mean sending a message from a BlackBerry device, this form can refer to texting as well as foraging. Context tells them apart. The noun for the gathering covers only the fruit.

  2. 2
    noununcountable
    The gathering or picking of blackberries, especially wild ones.

    Blackberrying is one of our favorite end-of-summer traditions.

    After a morning of blackberrying, the baskets were heavy and everyone's hands were purple.

    Note

    A seasonal word that travels in company. Dinah Craik pairs it with bilberrying on summer moors in A Life for a Life (1859), and in Hesba Stretton's Carola (1884) the nutting and the blackberrying begin once the harvest is over. It belongs to a small family of -ing nouns for gathering wild food. It takes the article comfortably and appears in the phrase "the blackberrying season."

blackberrying is a form of blackberry

blackberry, verb: To gather or forage for blackberries, typically from wild hedgerows in late summer. Full entry

Forms
blackberryblackberries he/she/itblackberrying -ing formblackberried past tense, past participle
Spelling
blackberry → blackberrying: add -ing

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Origin

Formed from 'blackberry' combined with the suffix '-ing'.