blackberry
blackberry — noun
1. A small, round, soft fruit with a deep purple-black skin made up of many tiny sh
A small, round, soft fruit with a deep purple-black skin made up of many tiny shiny bumps. Blackberries grow on thorny bushes in hedges and woods, and people use them in pies, jam, and crumbles.
Sophie picked a handful of ripe blackberries from the hedge near the old stone wall.
collocation: pick blackberries
Grandma made warm blackberry jam every September using fruit from the garden.
collocation: blackberry jam / pie / crumble
The children's mouths and fingers were stained dark purple from eating wild blackberries.
There were small black seeds stuck between Tom's teeth after he ate the blackberries.
Add a cup of fresh blackberries to the yogurt for a quick summer breakfast.
- bramble
British, often refers to the thorny plant or its fruit together
文法句型
a/the blackberry
a bowl of blackberries
用法筆記
Countable, so use 'a blackberry' for one fruit and 'blackberries' for more. Often used as a noun modifier in food terms: 'blackberry jam', 'blackberry pie'.
常見錯誤
2. The thorny, climbing bush that produces blackberries. Its long stems trail along
The thorny, climbing bush that produces blackberries. Its long stems trail along hedges and waste ground, and they are covered in sharp prickles that can scratch your hands.
A thick blackberry had grown right across the path to the back gate.
Mr. Patel cut back the wild blackberries along the fence with thick leather gloves.
collocation: cut back the blackberries
Birds love to nest deep inside a blackberry, where the thorns keep cats away.
The old garden was full of nettles, brambles, and one huge flowering blackberry.
- bramble
the most common British word for the plant
- blackberry bush
fuller, less ambiguous form used in everyday speech
文法句型
a blackberry bush
用法筆記
More often called 'blackberry bush' or 'bramble' in everyday speech; the bare noun 'a blackberry' for the plant is most common in gardening or nature writing. Distinguish from sense 1 (the fruit itself).
blackberry — verb
1. To go out into the countryside and collect blackberries from wild bushes, usuall
To go out into the countryside and collect blackberries from wild bushes, usually as a free, fun activity in late summer or early autumn.
Every September, Linnea and her cousins go blackberrying along the canal path.
common form: go blackberrying
We went blackberrying for two hours and came home with a heavy basket of fruit.
past form: went blackberrying
Aunt Helen still loves going blackberrying on the lanes behind her village in Devon.
The school took the children blackberrying as part of a nature lesson last Friday.
- forage
broader; covers collecting any wild food, not just blackberries
文法句型
go blackberrying
用法筆記
Mainly British and chiefly used in the -ing form 'blackberrying', often with 'go' or 'take someone'. The bare base form 'to blackberry' is rare in modern speech.