DictionaryAI

raspberry

USRAZ-bair-ee/ˈɹæzˌbɛɹi/UKRAHZ-buh-ree/ˈɹɑːzb(ə)ɹi/

Pluralraspberries

Adjectiveraspberrier, raspberriest

9 meanings of raspberry

Practice

  1. 1
    fruitnouncountable
    The juicy fruit of the raspberry plant, formed from many small drupelets clustered together into a single soft berry.

    Each raspberry pulled away cleanly from the cane, leaving a small hollow inside.

    The market stall sold raspberries by the basket all through the summer.

  2. 2
    flavoradjective
    Containing raspberries or having their distinctive flavor.

    The chef paired a raspberry coulis with the dark chocolate tart.

    This yogurt is tart and clearly raspberry, with no artificial aftertaste.

    Note

    A flavor adjective that will take comparison when advertisers want it to: raspberrier, raspberriest. Elsie the Borden Cow promised "the raspberriest raspberry ice cream ever" in 1941, and Jell-O claimed in 1979 that its gelatin "now tastes even raspberrier."

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • A 1941 advertisement attributed to Elsie, the Borden Cow, used the quoted superlative. en.wiktionary.org
    • A June 1979 Jell-O advertisement used the quoted comparative. en.wiktionary.org
  3. 3
    nouncountable
    Any of several thorny, cane-forming shrubs of the genus Rubus in the rose family, especially the common red raspberry, Rubus idaeus, grown for their edible berries.

    The gardener pruned each raspberry back hard once the harvest was over.

    A single raspberry can spread into a dense thicket within a few seasons.

  4. 4
    a rude noisenouncolloquialcountable
    A sound imitating a fart, made by blowing air out with the tongue between the lips, used humorously or to show mockery.

    When the referee made the bad call, the whole crowd gave him a loud raspberry.

    The crowd let out a chorus of raspberries when the magician's trick flopped.

    UsageUsually blow a raspberry or give someone a raspberry.

    Similarrazz

    Note

    The derisive noise takes its name from Cockney rhyming slang: raspberry tart rhymes with fart, and the rhyming half was dropped. Oddly, the word names the imitation rather than the thing imitated. In the US it is a Bronx cheer, and razz is another name for it. Figuratively, to get a raspberry is to meet public scorn, as when Osborne said a government had "got a massive raspberry from everyone."

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

  5. 5
    red-coloredadjective
    Of a dark pinkish-red color, matching that of a ripe raspberry.

    He chose a raspberry tie to brighten his gray suit.

    The old farmhouse had a raspberry front door that every neighbor remembered.

  6. 6
    shade of rednouncountable or uncountable
    A reddish color matching the hue of a ripe raspberry.

    The designer trimmed the gown in a bold raspberry.

    Raspberry runs through the whole fabric range, from pale tints to deep shades.

Less common meanings

  1. 7
    verbcolloquialintransitive
    To make a sound imitating a fart by forcing air through the lips, usually for fun or to show derision.

    The children raspberry at one another whenever the teacher turns to the board.

    He raspberried at the screen when his team missed the easy goal.

    UsageOften raspberry at someone.

    Note

    The verb for the rude noise shares every form with the berry-picking verb: raspberries, raspberried, raspberrying. So "the children were raspberrying" could mean they were out with baskets or blowing at one another.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Both verbs have the forms raspberries, raspberried and raspberrying. en.wiktionary.org
  2. 8
    go pickingverbintransitive
    To collect or forage for wild or cultivated raspberries.
    "Owen and she went raspberrying in the woods back of her farm," answered Anne. "They won't be back before supper time—if then."
    1917, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne's House of Dreams
    My mother told my sister Sally and me that if we were good little girls we might go raspberrying up on the mountains when the raspberries were ripe.
    1976, Emily Ward, The Way Things Were: An Autobiography of Emily Ward

    UsageMostly in the phrase go raspberrying.

    Note

    In Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne's House of Dreams (1917), two characters "went raspberrying in the woods." It belongs to a family of foraging verbs: Cornelius Weygandt's The Heart of New Hampshire (1944) has two boys raspberrying while a brother goes blueberrying. The word carries a rural, summer-outing flavor.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote Anne's House of Dreams, first published in 1917. fadedpage.com
    • Anne reports that Owen and Leslie went raspberrying; the quoted wording is exact. gutenberg.org
    • Cornelius Weygandt wrote The Heart of New Hampshire, first published in 1944. openlibrary.org
    • Weygandt's book describes two boys raspberrying and another son blueberrying. en.wiktionary.org
  3. 9
    nouncolloquial
    A derogatory slang word for a physically disabled person.

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1–3, 5–6, 8

The older form was 'raspis berry'. This may come from 'raspise', a rose-colored sweet wine, which came from Anglo-Latin 'vinum raspeys', whose origin is uncertain. A link to 'rasp' ('coarse, rough'), a word of Germanic origin, is also possible.

Meanings 4, 7

From Cockney rhyming slang, from 'raspberry tart' = 'fart', though 'raspberry' now refers to a noise that imitates it rather than the thing itself. Compare 'raspberry ripple' = 'cripple'.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

  • The noise sense of 'raspberry' comes from Cockney rhyming slang 'raspberry tart' meaning 'fart'. en.wiktionary.org
  • 'Raspberry ripple' is rhyming slang for 'cripple'. en.wikipedia.org