n. (pl. -ies) 1 a round edible yellowish-green berry with a thin usu. translucent skin enclosing seeds in a juicy flesh. 2 the thorny shrub, Ribes grossularia, bearing this fruit. play gooseberry Brit. colloq. be an unwanted extra (usu. third) person.
[ perh. f. GOOSE + BERRY ]