Cherry Meaning
/ˈt͡ʃɛɹi/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA small fruit, usually red, black or yellow, with a smooth hard seed and a short hard stem.
nounPrunus subg. Cerasus, trees or shrubs that bear cherries.
Sentence Examples
Yoshino is a place famous for its cherry blossoms.
I can't wait for spring to come so we can sit under the cherry trees.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The baker topped the cake with a single red ____ from the orchard.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I would like a ____ pie for my birthday dessert tonight, please now.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English chery, cherie, chirie, from Anglo-Norman cherise (mistaken as a plural) and Old English ċiris, ċirse (“cherry”), from Proto-West Germanic *kirsijā, from Vulgar Latin ceresia, derived from Late Latin ceresium, cerasium, from Ancient Greek κεράσιον (kerásion, “cherry fruit”), from κερασός (kerasós, “bird cherry”), and ultimately possibly of Anatolian origin (the intervocalic σ suggests a pre-Greek origin for the word). Doublet of cerise, Giresun, and kirsch.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
""Well, Dangerfield, in less than an hour I'm off in search of my fortune. Jesus, I'm excited, like I was going to lose my cherry. Woke up this morning with an erection that almost touched the ceiling.""
— 1965 [1955], J. P. Donleavy, The Ginger Man, New York: Delacorte Press, page 39:
"Nothing stands in your way when you're a boy / Clothes always fit ya / Life is a pop of the cherry when you're a boy"
— 1979, David Bowie, Brian Eno, “Boys Keep Swinging”, in Lodger, performed by David Bowie:
"Philips—Sergeant Gerheim's black, silver-tongued House Mouse—is telling everybody about the one thousand cherries he has busted."
— 1979, Gustav Hasford, The Short-Timers, New York: Bantam Books, published 1980, →ISBN, page 20:
"So what bitch, I busted your cherry – / Hell fucking no, I don’t wanna git married"
— 1986, “Short Side (Blow Job Betty)” (track 5, 6:36–6:43 from the start), in Too Short (lyrics), Raw, Uncut and X-Rated:
"Non-isomorphism is detected whenever the algorithm finds a cherry v#95;1#92;inT#95;1"
— 2004, Suleyman Cenk Sahinalp, S Muthukrishnan, Ugur Dogrusoz, Combinatorial Pattern Matching, Berlin […] : Springer-Verlag, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 210:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The baker topped the cake with a single red ____ from the orchard.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I would like a ____ pie for my birthday dessert tonight, please now.