— fruitlike , adj.
/frooht/ , n. , pl. fruits , ( esp. collectively ) fruit , v.
n.
1. any product of plant growth useful to humans or animals.
2. the developed ovary of a seed plant with its contents and accessory parts, as the pea pod, nut, tomato, or pineapple.
3. the edible part of a plant developed from a flower, with any accessory tissues, as the peach, mulberry, or banana.
4. the spores and accessory organs of ferns, mosses, fungi, algae, or lichen.
5. anything produced or accruing; product, result, or effect; return or profit: the fruits of one's labors.
6. Slang ( disparaging and offensive ). a male homosexual.
v.i. , v.t.
7. to bear or cause to bear fruit: a tree that fruits in late summer; careful pruning that sometimes fruits a tree.
[ 1125-75; ME fructus enjoyment, profit, fruit, equiv. to frug-, var. s. of frui to enjoy the produce of + -tus suffix of v. action ]