| 释义 |
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 > |