strawberry

noun, adj, verb — 12 senses

strawberry

noun

UK /ˈstɹɔːb(ə)ɹi/ · US /ˈstɹɔˌbɛɹi/

Etymology From Middle English strawberie, strawbery, from Old English strēawberġe, corresponding to straw + berry. Of various theories advanced to explain the name, the two most plausible are: # from the fact that wild strawberries grow on straw-like runners (compare Norwegian stråbær, denoting cranberries, which grow in a similar way); # from the practice, still common in parts of Europe, of gathering strawberries by stringing them on a straw or stalk.

7 senses
  1. 1The sweet, usually red, edible accessory fruit of…
  2. 2Any plant of the genus Fragaria (that bears such fruit).
  3. 3The berry of the strawberry tree (Arbutus)
  4. 4A dark pinkish red color, like that of the fruit; strawberry red.
  5. 5Something resembling a strawberry, especially a reddish…
  6. 6A prostitute who exchanges sexual services for crack cocaine.
  7. 7A butt plug with one end shaped like a strawberry fruit.
1

The sweet, usually red, edible accessory fruit of certain plants of the genus Fragaria.

  • They went to pick strawberries today.
  • Communication is a kind of beauty, he said – and “beauty manifests itself from the noun itself, without strawberries on the cake.”2019 September 24, Jessie Yeung, quoting Pope Francis, “Pope Francis loves nouns but is ‘allergic’ to adjectives”, in CNN, archived from the original on 27 Sep 2019:
1 more example
  • Is there a sweeter time of year than strawberry season? As soon as the trees start bursting into pink buds, the first strawberries can’t be far behind at the farmers market.2022 May 9, Casey Barber, “Strawberry season has arrived. Here are tips for enjoying spring’s sweetest treat”, in CNN, archived from the original on 04 Jul 2022:
2

Any plant of the genus Fragaria (that bears such fruit).

  • She has the best strawberry patch I've ever seen.
  • He told his father, and said it would be just suitable work for him to run about fields and woods amongst the strawberry hills after a flock of hares, and now and then lie down and take a nap on some sunny hill.1886, Peter Christen Asbjø￵rnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 170:
3

The berry of the strawberry tree (Arbutus)

4

A dark pinkish red color, like that of the fruit; strawberry red.

5

Rare Something resembling a strawberry, especially a reddish bruise, birthmark, or infantile hemangioma (naevus).

  • strawberry marks
  • I have stretch marks and strawberry legs [follicles or blocked pores that appear as black dots]^([sic]); discoloration all over my body.2024 February 20, Fiona Vera-Gray, quoting Almina, “‘Everything is hairless’: what 100 women taught me about porn and body confidence”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
6

US, Slang A prostitute who exchanges sexual services for crack cocaine.

  • Come home and see her mouth on the dopeman's dick / Strawberry, just look and you'll see her1987, “Dope Man”, in N.W.A. and the Posse, performed by N.W.A:
  • […] infamous in Los Angeles through media reports: the crack houses and "strawberries" (women who exchange sex for crack) […]1992, Kathleen Boyle, Homeless crack cocaine abusers, page 40:
2 more examples
  • I'm makin mo' deals than a strawberry might I'll lick your clit, if you suck my pipe1995, B.G. Knocc Out & Dresta, “Compton Hoe”, in Real Brothas:
  • The desperate addiction associated with the drug has made "strawberries" — prostitutes who work for crack — fixtures of the […]1997, Peter Collier, David Horowitz, The Race Card, page 91:
7

A butt plug with one end shaped like a strawberry fruit.

  • When Barey decided in 2020 to pursue porn full-time, she did not imagine that at 28 she would spend more time hunched over a desk – not in the fun way – making flow charts, scheduling Zoom calls, and sending pitch decks. “I’m at my happiest when I’m making a video like putting a strawberry in my butt and pushing it out,” she says. “Now I’m on calls all day and I have tech neck.”2025 November 7, Alessandra Schade, quoting Stella Barey, “‘We’re sick of the OnlyFans model’: Stella Barey’s porn site lets gen Z sex workers have a life”, in The Guardian:
Synonyms
earthberry, strawb
Derived terms
68 termsalpine strawberry, barren strawberry, beach strawberry, bog strawberry, Chilean strawberry, Chinese strawberry tree, coastal strawberry, creeping strawberry pine, crushed strawberry, false strawberry, garden strawberry, hautbois strawberry, hautboy strawberry, Indian strawberry, Irish strawberry, mock strawberry, musk strawberry, pineberry, red strawberry tongue, scarlet strawberry, sea strawberry, strasberry, strawbana, strawberrita, strawberryade, strawberry aldehyde, strawberry aphid, strawberry begonia, strawberry blite, strawberry blond, strawberry blonde, strawberry bud weevil, strawberry bush, strawberry cactus, strawberry clover, strawberry crab, strawberry gallbladder, strawberry generation, strawberry geranium, strawberry guava, strawberry hemangioma, Strawberry Hill, strawberry leaf, strawberry legs, strawberryless, strawberry mark, strawberry moon, strawberry myrtle, strawberry pear, strawberry raspberry, strawberry roan, strawberry root weevil, strawberry saxifrage, strawberry shortcake, strawberry shrub, strawberry skin, strawberry snail (Trochulus striolatus, strawberrytini, strawberry tomato, strawberry tongue, strawberry tree, strawberry weevil, strawberry wine, Virginia strawberry, wild strawberry, wood strawberry, woodland strawberry, yellow strawberry
Hypernyms
berry, fruit
Meronyms
anthocyanin

strawberry

adj

Etymology From Middle English strawberie, strawbery, from Old English strēawberġe, corresponding to straw + berry. Of various theories advanced to explain the name, the two most plausible are: # from the fact that wild strawberries grow on straw-like runners (compare Norwegian stråbær, denoting cranberries, which grow in a similar way); # from the practice, still common in parts of Europe, of gathering strawberries by stringing them on a straw or stalk.

1

Containing or having the flavor of strawberries.

  • I'd like a large strawberry shake.
  • We sing you a song of the strawberriest Strawberry Ice Cream on earth.1941 May 8, Chicago Daily Tribune, volume C, number 110, page 8:
4 more examples
  • At any rate, you will agree with me that this is the “strawberriest tastin’ ” pie that you’ve ever tasted.1948 May 5, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, volume 100, number 243, St. Louis, Mo., page 3D:
  • Sixty seconds of boiling, and you’ll be admiring the strawberriest strawberry jam you ever tasted.1961 June, McCall’s, volume LXXXVIII, number 9, page 47:
  • Fraser Recorded in Scotland in mid-1100s as de Frisselle, de Freseliere, de Fresel, as if from a place in France, and Sir Simon F— (executed 1306) is referred to as Simond Frysel; first element ?‘ash tree’ of, the –er ?to make it ‘strawberrier’ – a pun on the three silver cinquefoils or fraises in their armorials.1967, Basil Cottle, The Penguin Dictionary of Surnames, Penguin Books, published 1969, page 109:
  • With at least 26 berries like these in every jar like this, how must Kraft Pure Strawberry Preserves taste? The strawberriest best!1968 March, Ladies’ Home Journal, volume LXXXV, Philadelphia, Pa.: The Curtis Publishing Company, page 122:
2

Flavored with ethyl methylphenylglycidate, an artificial compound which is said to resemble the taste of strawberries.

3

Of a color similar to the color of strawberry-flavoured products.

  • The strawberry lipstick matched his outfit.
  • They are, at once, beautiful and curious, with their translucent white skin and strawberriest blond hair, looking like a group of Wagner’s Valkyrie lost in a Puccini opera.2006, Ida Liberkowski, Cynthia Malizia, Along the Amalfi Drive, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 282:
Synonyms
strawberryish, strawberrylike

strawberry

verb

Etymology From Middle English strawberie, strawbery, from Old English strēawberġe, corresponding to straw + berry. Of various theories advanced to explain the name, the two most plausible are: # from the fact that wild strawberries grow on straw-like runners (compare Norwegian stråbær, denoting cranberries, which grow in a similar way); # from the practice, still common in parts of Europe, of gathering strawberries by stringing them on a straw or stalk.

1

To gather strawberries.

  • We strawberried in Michigan woods with our fat nanny, and in spring we gathered sand dollars on Daytona, passed smiling into Kodachrome.1994, New England Review, volume 16, page 35:
2

To turn a dark pinkish-red.

  • My hips and elbows were strawberrying painfully.1986, Les Whitten, Sometimes a Hero, page 352:
Related terms
arbutus, Carolina allspice, hautboy

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.