gooseberry
Pronunciation
  • (America) IPA: /ˈɡusˌbɛɹi/
  • (British) IPA: /ˈɡʊzb(ə)ɹi/, /ˈɡuːsb(ə)ɹi/
Noun

gooseberry (plural gooseberries)

  1. A fruit, Ribes uva-crispa, related to the currant.
    We had a good haul of gooseberries from our bushes this year.
  2. Any other plant or fruit in the subgenus Grossularia, distinguished from currants by bearing spines, including Ribes hirtellum, the American gooseberry.
  3. Any of several other plants that are not closely related but bear fruit in some way similar:
    1. 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
    2. the Indian gooseberry (Phyllanthus emblica), emblic, amla.
    3. the Ceylon gooseberry, a species of Dovyalis native to Sri Lanka and southern India
    4. the Barbados gooseberry (Pereskia aculeata), an unusual cactus
    5. The Long Key locustberry or shiny locustberry (Byrsonima lucida)
    6. Jamaican gooseberry tree (Phyllanthus acuminatus), a herb-like plant
    7. star gooseberry
      1. Otaheite gooseberry (Phyllanthus acidus)
      2. katuk (Sauropus androgynus), a shrub grown in some tropical regions as a leaf vegetable
    8. Physalis angulata, also called balloon cherry and cutleaf groundcherry
    9. Cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana), indigenous to South America
    10. poison gooseberry (Withania somnifera)
  4. (dated, British slang) A chaperone.
  5. (chiefly, British) 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.
  6. (dated, British slang) A fool.
  7. (dated, British slang) A fantastic story; a tall tale; a hoax.
  8. (dated, British slang, vulgar, usually, in the plural) A testicle.
Synonyms Translations Translations
  • German: fünftes Rad am Wagen (idiomatic)
  • Italian: ultima ruota del carro
  • Spanish: sujetavelas



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