What does "cherry" mean?
A small fruit, usually red, black or yellow, with a smooth hard seed and a short hard stem.
Cherry
adj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·2 syllables ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A small fruit, usually red, black or yellow, with a smooth hard seed and a short hard stem.
- Grammar: cherry is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: cherry red, cherry tree, berry, blood-red.
- Useful contrasts: achromatic, colorless, pale.
- Usage evidence: Yoshino is a place famous for its cherry blossoms.
How to use "cherry"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "cherry" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "cherry" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "cherry" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "cherry" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "cherry" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "cherry red" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "cherry", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A small fruit, usually red, black or yellow, with a smooth hard seed and a short hard stem.
- 2 someone connected with AFC Bournemouth, as a fan, player, coach etc.
- 3 a red the color of ripe cherries wordnet
- 4 Prunus subg. Cerasus, trees or shrubs that bear cherries.
- 5 a red fruit with a single hard stone wordnet
Show 11 more definitions
- 6 The wood of a cherry tree.
- 7 any of numerous trees and shrubs producing a small fleshy round fruit with a single hard stone; many also produce a valuable hardwood wordnet
- 8 Cherry red.
- 9 wood of any of various cherry trees especially the black cherry wordnet
- 10 The fruit of the coffee plant, containing the seeds or beans.
- 11 Virginity, especially female virginity as embodied by a hymen. slang
""Well, Dangerfield, in less than an hour I'm off in search of my fortune. Jesus, I'm excited, like I was going to lose my cherry. Woke up this morning with an erection that almost touched the ceiling.""
- 12 A subtree consisting of a node with exactly two leaves.
"Non-isomorphism is detected whenever the algorithm finds a cherry v#95;1#92;inT#95;1"
- 13 A red cricket ball. slang
"The Indians have to get early wickets on the morrow and they will have the option of taking the new cherry."
- 14 A reddish mark left on the bat by the impact of the ball. slang
- 15 A round, red light of the kind that is typically mounted on top of a police car.
""What do you think?" he asked as he wove through traffic, matching Sanford's speed but without the benefit of a flashing cherry on the roof of his car."
- 16 The burning tip of a cigarette.
"I'm horrified: Dag is burning holes in the roof of the car with the cherry of his cigarette."
Verb
- 1 To redden; to infuse a cherrylike color to something. dated, obsolete, transitive
- 2 To cheer, to delight. dated, obsolete, transitive
Adjective
- 1 Containing or having the taste of cherries.
- 2 Of a bright red color; cherry red.
- 3 In excellent condition; mint condition. informal, often
"A few years earlier, I’d restored my ’65 Mustang convertible to cherry condition—fire engine red, with matching tuck-and-roll—and I wasn’t surprised that it drew attention."
Adjective
- 1 of a color at the end of the color spectrum (next to orange); resembling the color of blood or cherries or tomatoes or rubies wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A female given name from English, a pet form of Charity, also interpreted as a flower name.
"'As you knows Mrs Chuzzlewit, you knows, p’raps, what her chris’en name is?' Mrs Gamp observed. 'Charity,' said Bailey. 'That it ain’t!' cried Mrs Gamp. 'Cherry, then,' said Bailey. 'Cherry's short for it. It’s all the same.'"
- 2 A surname.
- 3 A number of places in the United States:; A ghost town in Yavapai County, Arizona.
- 4 A number of places in the United States:; A village in Bureau County, Illinois.
- 5 A number of places in the United States:; A township and unincorporated community therein, in Saint Louis County, Minnesota.
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 A number of places in the United States:; Two townships in Pennsylvania, in Butler County and Sullivan County.
- 7 A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Lauderdale County, Tennessee.
- 8 A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Wirt County, West Virginia.
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"Yoshino is a place famous for its cherry blossoms."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "cherry"?
Common synonyms include: cherry red, cherry tree, berry, blood-red, cardinal, carmine.
How do you use "cherry" in a sentence?
Yoshino is a place famous for its cherry blossoms.
Etymology
From Middle English chery, cherie, chirie, from Anglo-Norman cherise (mistaken as a plural) and Old English ċiris, ċirse (“cherry”), from Proto-West Germanic *kirsijā, from Vulgar Latin ceresia, derived from Late Latin ceresium, cerasium, from Ancient Greek κεράσιον (kerásion, “cherry fruit”), from κερασός (kerasós, “bird cherry”), and ultimately possibly of Anatolian origin (the intervocalic σ suggests a pre-Greek origin for the word). Doublet of cerise, Giresun, and kirsch.