cher´ry|like´

cher|ry «CHEHR ee», noun, plural -ries, adjective.

–n.

1. a small, round, juicy fruit, with a stone or pit in it. Cherries are usually a bright red or very dark red and are good to eat.

2. the tree it grows on. The cherry belongs to the rose family.

3. its wood; cherrywood.

4. any fruit bearing some resemblance to the common cherry, or the tree producing it.

5. Also, cherry red. a bright red; cerise.

6. Bowling. the act of knocking down with the ball only the front pin or pins in an attempt for a spare.

–adj.

1. made of the wood of the cherry tree.

2. bright-red: »

cherry ribbons.

╂[Middle English chery, back formation < Old North French cherise, an assumed plural < Vulgar Latin ceresia < Late Greek kerasiā cherry tree < Greek kerasós cherry (tree). See etym. of doublet cerise. (Cf. ↑cerise)]

–cher´ry|like´, adjective.