cherry

CHE-ree/ˈt͡ʃɛɹi/

16 meanings of cherry

1
fruitnouncountable
A small round fruit with a long, slender stem and a smooth, hard stone, usually red, black, or yellow.
He spat the cherry pit into his hand and kept eating.
We bought a basket of cherries at the farmers market.
UsageThe plural is cherries. The hard center is called a stone or a pit.
2
treenouncountable
A tree or shrub of the subgenus Cerasus, which bears cherries.
The gardener pruned the cherry before winter set in.
Ornamental cherries line the avenue and bloom in early April.
UsageOften cherry tree, and its flowers are cherry blossom.
3
food flavoradjective
Containing cherries or having their flavor.
The bakery sells a cherry tart topped with whipped cream.
She stirred a cherry syrup into the cocktail before serving.
4
woodnoununcountable
The hard, reddish wood of the cherry tree, used especially for furniture and cabinetwork.
The cabinet's rich cherry darkens beautifully with age.
She refinished an old writing desk made of cherry.
5
red-coloredadjective
Of a bright red color, like that of a ripe cherry; cherry red.
She wore cherry lipstick that matched her bright scarf.
She picked a cherry red coat to brighten the gray day.
6
color namenouncountable or uncountable
A bright red color, the color of a ripe cherry.
The designer chose a rich cherry for the living room walls.
His new sedan came in a deep cherry that gleamed in the sun.
7
virginitynounslang
A person's virginity, especially as represented by a woman's hymen.
He lost his cherry the summer after graduation.
The character jokes about clinging to her cherry well into her twenties.
UsageUsually lose your cherry, or someone pops it; not for polite company.
Similarvirginity
Note
In J. P. Donleavy's The Ginger Man, a character is as excited as if he were "going to lose my cherry." David Bowie's "Boys Keep Swinging" (1979) turns it into a phrase about popping it.
8
coffee fruitnouncountable
The fruit borne by the coffee plant, inside which are the seeds known as coffee beans.
On the coffee farm, pickers choose only the ripe red cherries, since each one holds two beans.
Each cherry holds two seeds that become coffee beans.

Less common meanings

9
like newadjectivecolloquial
In excellent, like-new condition.
The collector's vintage guitar was absolutely cherry.
They restored the old truck until it looked completely cherry.
UsageBefore a noun (in cherry condition) or after a verb (looks cherry), mostly about cars, guitars and collectibles.
Similarmint, pristine, immaculate, flawless
Oppositebattered, worn
Note
A word for cars and collectibles that works in two positions. It can sit before condition, as in John Morgan Wilson's Blind Eye, where a '65 Mustang is restored "to cherry condition." It can also stand alone after a verb, as in "Weird Al" Yankovic's "All of my action figures are cherry."
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
John Morgan Wilson's Blind Eye describes restoring a ’65 Mustang to cherry condition. en.wiktionary.org
Yankovic performs the quoted line in White & Nerdy. en.wiktionary.org
10
burning tipnouncountable
The end of a cigarette where the tobacco is actively burning.
In the dark, all she could see was the cherry of his cigarette bobbing up and down.
He pressed the cherry against the ashtray to put it out.
Similarember, tip
11
police lightnouncountable
A police car's round red roof light, or any light of that kind.
A single cherry rotated on the roof of the patrol car.
The cherries lit up the street as the cruiser sped past.
Similarcherrytop
Note
Police-car shorthand that fits fast-moving prose. Sandra Brown's Smash Cut (2009) has "a flashing cherry on the roof," and Rick Mofina's In Desperation (2011) has a "dash-mounted cherry" switched on. The fuller compound cherrytop names the same light.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
Sandra Brown's Smash Cut was first published in 2009. sandrabrown.net
Smash Cut contains the quoted wording. en.wiktionary.org
Rick Mofina's In Desperation was published in 2011. en.wikipedia.org
In Desperation describes a dash-mounted cherry being activated. en.wiktionary.org
Cherrytop also names a police car's round red roof light. en.wiktionary.org
12
cricket ballnounslangcountable
A red ball used in cricket.
The fast bowler kept shining one side of the cherry to make it swing.
She middled the cherry and sent it racing to the rope.
UsageOften the cherry, especially in phrases such as take the new cherry.
Similarball
Note
Cricket slang for the ball itself. ESPNcricinfo writes of a side having "the option of taking the new cherry," and BBC Sport of a bowler having "first go with the cherry."
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
'Cherry' is cricket slang for a red ball. en.wikipedia.org
ESPNcricinfo uses the quoted wording about a side taking a new ball; Wiktionary reproduces and attributes the quotation. en.wiktionary.org
BBC Sport uses the quoted wording about a bowler; Wiktionary reproduces and attributes the quotation. en.wiktionary.org
13
verbobsoletetransitive
To make something red, or give it a cherrylike color.
Note
Both obsolete verbs spelled cherry share the forms cherries, cherrying and cherried. In an old text, cherried can therefore mean reddened or the "cheered" verb. The object usually settles it: a face or surface for color, a person for delight.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The obsolete verb senses share the forms cherries, cherrying and cherried. en.wiktionary.org
The historical meanings allow cherried to mean reddened or cheered. en.wiktionary.org
14
verbobsoletetransitive
To cheer or delight someone.
Note
There is nothing red about this verb: it means to gladden, and its object is a person or their spirits. It is obsolete, like the reddening verb, and shares that verb's past form cherried, so context has to tell them apart.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
This sense means to gladden, cheer or delight, rather than to redden. en.wiktionary.org
Both the delighting and reddening senses are obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
Both senses have the past form cherried, which therefore does not distinguish them. en.wiktionary.org
15
nounslang
A red smudge left on a bat by the ball striking it.
16
noun
In a tree structure, a subtree formed by one node together with exactly two leaves.

Practice

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Origin

From Middle English chery, from Anglo-Norman cherise (mistakenly treated as a plural) and Old English ċiris, both ultimately from Vulgar Latin ceresia, from Ancient Greek κεράσιον (kerásion, "cherry fruit") and κερασός ("bird cherry"), and possibly of Anatolian origin.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

Cherry derives from Middle English chery. en.wiktionary.org
The Middle English word derives from Anglo-Norman cherise, reinterpreted as plural, and Old English ċiris; both ultimately derive from Vulgar Latin ceresia. en.wiktionary.org
Ceresia ultimately derives from Greek κεράσιον, meaning cherry fruit, itself derived from κερασός. en.wiktionary.org
Κερασός means bird cherry. en.wiktionary.org
The ultimate origin may be Anatolian. en.wiktionary.org