# blackberry

/ˈbɫækˌbɛɹi/ (US) · /blˈækbəɹi/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/blackberry
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. the fruit

noun · CEFR A2

a small, sweet, black or dark purple fruit that grows on a thorny bush.

For teachers: the edible aggregate fruit of various species in the genus Rubus, typically turning black when ripe.

- We picked a bowl of wild blackberries to make a pie for dessert.
- The children spent the afternoon stained with the juice of wild blackberries they had scavenged from the hedgerows along the lane.

### 2. the plant

noun · CEFR B1

the thorny bush that produces blackberries.

For teachers: any of the various perennial, usually thorny, shrubs of the genus Rubus.

- The garden was overgrown with blackberry bushes that scratched our legs.
- The invasive blackberry had completely choked the native flora, its resilient canes forming an impenetrable wall of thorns across the abandoned pasture.

### 3. the mobile device

noun · CEFR B2

a brand of mobile phone with a small keyboard that was very popular in the 2000s.

For teachers: a line of smartphones and tablets originally known for their physical QWERTY keyboards and secure push email capabilities.

- Before the iPhone became popular, many business people used a BlackBerry.
- The executive was famously inseparable from his BlackBerry, constantly responding to emails via the device's signature tactile keyboard during the morning commute.

### 4. to gather fruit

verb · CEFR B2

to go out and look for blackberries to pick.

For teachers: to forage for or harvest blackberries in the wild.

- Every September, the family goes blackberrying in the nearby woods.
- The villagers would traditionally go blackberrying in late summer, filling wicker baskets with the fruit before the first frosts arrived.

## Examples

- We picked a bowl of fresh blackberries from the garden.
- The children spent the afternoon gathering blackberries along the edge of the woods to bake a crumble.
- While the wild blackberry is prized for its intense flavor, commercial varieties are often bred for larger size and the absence of thorns to facilitate easier harvesting.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.