# cherry

Pronunciation: say "CHE-ree" /ˈt͡ʃɛɹi/

## Noun

1. A small round fruit with a long, slender stem and a smooth, hard stone, usually red, black, or yellow.
   - Simple: A small, round fruit with soft flesh, a smooth hard seed inside, and a long, thin stem.
   - _He spat the cherry pit into his hand and kept eating._
   - _We bought a basket of cherries at the farmers market._
2. A tree or shrub of the subgenus Cerasus, which bears cherries.
   - Simple: A tree or bush that grows cherries.
   - _The gardener pruned the cherry before winter set in._
   - _Ornamental cherries line the avenue and bloom in early April._
4. The hard, reddish wood of the cherry tree, used especially for furniture and cabinetwork.
   - Simple: The wood that comes from a cherry tree.
   - _The cabinet's rich cherry darkens beautifully with age._
   - _She refinished an old writing desk made of cherry._
6. A bright red color, the color of a ripe cherry.
   - Simple: A bright red color.
   - _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. A person's virginity, especially as represented by a woman's hymen. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A person's virginity, especially a woman's.
   - _He lost his cherry the summer after graduation._
   - _The character jokes about clinging to her cherry well into her twenties._
8. The fruit borne by the coffee plant, inside which are the seeds known as coffee beans.
   - Simple: The small fruit of a coffee plant, with the coffee beans inside.
   - _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._
10. The end of a cigarette where the tobacco is actively burning.
   - Simple: The glowing red tip of a lit cigarette.
   - _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._
11. A police car's round red roof light, or any light of that kind.
   - Simple: A round red light of the kind put on top of a police car.
   - _A single cherry rotated on the roof of the patrol car._
   - _The cherries lit up the street as the cruiser sped past._
12. A red ball used in cricket. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A red ball used in the game of 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._

## Adjective

3. Containing cherries or having their flavor.
   - Simple: Containing cherries or tasting like them.
   - _The bakery sells a cherry tart topped with whipped cream._
   - _She stirred a cherry syrup into the cocktail before serving._
5. Of a bright red color, like that of a ripe cherry; cherry red.
   - Simple: Having a bright red color.
   - _She wore cherry lipstick that matched her bright scarf._
   - _She picked a cherry red coat to brighten the gray day._
9. In excellent, like-new condition. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: In great condition, looking like new.
   - _The collector's vintage guitar was absolutely cherry._
   - _They restored the old truck until it looked completely cherry._

## Verb

13. To make something red, or give it a cherrylike color. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To make something turn red.
14. To cheer or delight someone. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To make someone feel happy.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A red smudge left on a bat by the ball striking it.
- (noun) In a tree structure, a subtree formed by one node together with exactly two leaves.

## 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.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/cherry (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).