gooseberry
English
WOTD – 13 September 2012
gooseberry fruit (Ribes uva-crispa)
Etymology
From goose + berry. It is possible that the first element was originally something related to the gros- of French groseille and/or the kruis- of Dutch kruisbes but has been altered by folk etymology.
Pronunciation
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈɡusˌbɛɹi/
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɡʊzb(ə)ɹi/, /ˈɡuːsb(ə)ɹi/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file)
Noun
gooseberry (plural gooseberries)
- A fruit, Ribes uva-crispa, related to the currant.
- We had a good haul of gooseberries from our bushes this year.
- Any other plant or fruit in the subgenus Grossularia, distinguished from currants by bearing spines, including Ribes hirtellum, the American gooseberry.
- Any of several other plants that are not closely related but bear fruit in some way similar:
- the Chinese gooseberry or kiwifruit, the edible berry of a cultivar group of the woody vine Actinidia deliciosa and hybrids between this and other species in the genus Actinidia
- the Indian gooseberry (Phyllanthus emblica), emblic, amla.
- the Ceylon gooseberry, a species of Dovyalis native to Sri Lanka and southern India
- the Barbados gooseberry (Pereskia aculeata), an unusual cactus
- The Long Key locustberry or shiny locustberry (Byrsonima lucida)
- Jamaican gooseberry tree (Phyllanthus acuminatus), a herb-like plant
- star gooseberry
- Otaheite gooseberry (Phyllanthus acidus)
- Katuk (Sauropus androgynus), a shrub grown in some tropical regions as a leaf vegetable
- Physalis angulata, also called balloon cherry and cutleaf groundcherry
- Cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana), indigenous to South America
- poison gooseberry (Withania somnifera)
- (dated, British slang) A chaperone.[1]
- (chiefly Britain) An additional person who is neither necessary nor wanted in a given situation.
- Robert and Susan were so in love with each other that nobody could go near them without feeling like a gooseberry.
- 1915, Montgomery, Lucy Maud, “In the Park”, in Anne of the Island:
- "But," said Philippa dolefully, "if I go I'll have to be gooseberry, and that will be a new experience for Philippa Gordon."
- 1993 October 21, Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, Gunmen of the Apocalypse (Red Dwarf), season 6, episode 3, spoken by Dave Lister (Craig Charles):
- Kryten, you are a total gooseberry. Next time I play on the AR machine I'm going to give you some money and send you to the pictures.
- (dated, British slang) A fool.[1]
- (dated, British slang) A fantastic story; a tall tale; a hoax.[1][2]
- (dated, British slang, vulgar, usually in the plural) A testicle.[1]
Synonyms
- (fruit): goosegog (UK informal)
- (additional person): third wheel, fifth wheel
- (fool): see Thesaurus:fool
- (testicle): see Thesaurus:testicles
Derived terms
- cape gooseberry
- Chinese gooseberry (Actinidia spp.)
- Coromandel gooseberry
- do gooseberry
- gooseberry eye
- gooseberry-eyed
- gooseberry-grinder
- gooseberry lay
- gooseberry-picker
- gooseberry pudding
- gooseberry rust
- gooseberry season
- gooseberry tart
- gooseberry wig
- green as a gooseberry
- Old Gooseberry
- pick gooseberry
- play gooseberry
- sea gooseberry
- sea-gooseberry
- spreading gooseberry
Translations
fruit
|
additional person
|
References
- Farmer, John Stephen (1893) Slang and Its Analogues, volume 3, pages 182–184
- Albert Barrère and Charles G[odfrey] Leland, compilers and editors (1889–1890), “gooseberry”, in A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant […], volume I (A–K), Edinburgh: […] The Ballantyne Press, OCLC 882571771, page 419.