FRUIT

I. ˈfrüt, usu -üd.+V noun

( -s )

Usage: often attributive

Etymology: Middle English, from Old French, from Latin fructus use, enjoyment, product, fruit, from fructus, past participle of frui to enjoy, have the use and enjoyment of — more at brook

1.

a. : a product of plant growth useful to man or animals (as grain, vegetables, cotton, flax) — usually used in plural

the fruits of the field

b.

(1) : the reproductive body of a seed plant consisting of one or more seeds and usually various protective and supporting structures — used especially of edible bodies

squash vines full of green fruits that will be killed by frost

(2) : such a fruit having an edible more or less sweet pulp associated with the seed and usually being used as or in a dessert or sweet course

apples, peaches, plums, and berries are among our best native fruits

— contrasted with vegetable

pears and cherries are fruits while squashes and beans are vegetables

(3) : a succulent plant part used chiefly in a dessert or sweet course

rhubarb though actually the petiole of a leaf is considered a fruit

c. : a dish, selection, or diet of fruits

pass the fruit

live on fruit

d. : a product of fertilization in a plant with its modified envelopes or appendages (as the cystocarp in various algae or the sporogonium of a moss) ; specifically : the ripened ovary of a seed plant and its contents including such adjacent tissues as may be inseparably connected with it (as the pod of a pea or the capsule of many annuals) — compare seed

2. : offspring , young , progeny

the fruit of the womb

3. : the effect or consequence of an action or operation : issue , result

that policy bore fruit

the fruits of crime

the fruits of sound instruction

4. slang : homosexual

II. verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

Etymology: Middle English fruiten, from fruit, n.

intransitive verb

: to bear or produce fruit : come to fruition

a tree that fruits annually

some of the tomatoes blossomed but didn't fruit

the culture he served … never fruited in wisdom — V.L.Parrington

transitive verb

: to cause to bear fruit : develop fruit upon

fruited the seedlings