Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of certain mat-forming shrubs of the genus Arctostaphylos, especially A. uva-ursi, native to North America and Eurasia, having small leathery leaves, white or pinkish urn-shaped flowers, and red berrylike fruits. Also called kinnikinnick.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A trailing evergreen ericaceous shrub, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, found throughout the arctic and mountainous portions of the northern hemisphere, and bearing small bright-red drupes. The leaves are very astringent and slightly bitter, and under the name uva-ursi are used in medicine as an astringent tonic, chiefly in affections of the bladder. It is the kinnikinic which the Indians of western America mix with their tobacco for smoking. Also called bear's-bilberry, bear's-grape, and foxberry.
- n. In the Pacific States, a species of Rhamnus, R. Purshiana, named from the fondness of bears for its berries. Also called bearwood.
Wiktionary
- n. Any of three dwarf shrubs of the genus Arcostaphylus, which grow in arctic regions and bear edible berries.
- n. Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, the common bearberry.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Bot.) A trailing plant of the heath family (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), having leaves which are tonic and astringent, and glossy red berries of which bears are said to be fond.
WordNet 3.0
- n. deciduous shrub of southeastern and central United States
- n. chiefly evergreen subshrubs of northern to Arctic areas
- n. shrubby tree of the Pacific coast of the United States; yields cascara sagrada
Etymologies
- From bear + berry. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Also known as bearberry, uva ursi’s use as a folk remedy for urinary-tract infections has been validated by modern research, which shows that this herb is an effective treatment for bladder and kidney ailments.”
“Black spruce and dwarf larch Larix larieina scrub colonises exposed moraines, giving way to an ericaceous shrub formation in the more exposed and unstable areas with alpine bearberry Anctostaphylos alpina, alpine azalea Loiseleuria procumbens and diapensia.”
“Typical ground cover includes lichens, mosses, bracken fern and members of the heath family (bearberry and teaberry).”
Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve, New Jersey
“Understory species include bearberry, mosses, and sedges.”
“I scream her name—Opal Opal—run past beach heather and bearberry—Opal Opal Opal—and suddenly remember Napeague Harbor beyond the tallest dune.”
“However, cystitis can be caused by vigorous sex but you can pack herbal help with Uvacin tablets which contain a soothing combination of peppermint, natural antiseptic bearberry and mildly diuretic dandelion.”
“I take three steps on firm ground and then stumble into a gaping pit camouflaged with bearberry and alpine azalea.”
Field and Stream Adventure: The Search for the Best Brook Trout Spot on Earth
“He was sick and drank tea from bearberry leaves as tonic, and gradually he became transformed into a black bear.”
“Fern, huckleberry, bearberry, service berry, the shoulder-high broad-leafed thimbleberry, and a plethora of plants Anna couldn't put a name to, tangled in the cross-hatching of rotting timber.”
“She saw a bearberry shrub, a dwarf evergreen heath plant with small, dark green, leathery leaves, and an abundance of small, round, pink-tinged white flowers that promised a rich crop of red berries.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘bearberry’.
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Love Across Kingdoms
Appendix of sorts to AIC, listing plants named with reference to animals and vice versa.
duck potato, hog plum, sorrel mare, horse aloe, horse chestnut, banana slug, tiger lily, buffalo grass, tuna fruit, monkey puzzle, bull kelp, hawkweed and 133 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11250 more...
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Berry Me Deep In Love
Different kinds of berries. In particular it's a list of those with -berry in the name, regardless of whether they are true berries or not. According to Schlockipedia, the botanical class of berrie...
cloudberry, juneberry, whortleberry, goldenberry, apple serviceberry, allegheny shadberry, loganberry, lingonberry, huckleberry, juniper berry, blackberry, mulberry and 74 more...
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berry neat
very nice enticing, berrilicious words
bearberry, sugarberry, jamberry, checkerberry, foxberry, farkleberry, spiceberry, inkberry, crowberry, wolfberry, thimbleberry, aleberry and 69 more...
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polymorph's Words
pornerastic, yeaux, enantiadromia, synchronicity, transubstantiation, sensimilla, slough, scaphism, symbiosis, prolix, orgiastic, cryptogamic and 245 more...
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Flora
fenugreek, verbena, saxifrage, arbutus, calendula, nasturtium, lobelia, hellebore, rhododendron, philodendron, bellflower, heuchera and 449 more...
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the gardener and apothecary's
bryony, chamomile, frond, sweet bay, laurel, monkshood, henbane, hemlock, parsley, rosemary, thyme, lady's mantle and 140 more...
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a modern herbal
mugwort, horehound, hellebore, chamomile, comfrey, rosemary, calendula, rose, lavender, lamb's quarters, gamboge, mustard and 108 more...
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I like: B
babylon, bacchus, balkans, basilica, bavaria, behemoth, belfast, berlin, beyond the pale, bifrost, bifurcate, bismarck and 24 more...
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YO FAV WORDS HERE
solipsism, manticore, cameleopard, milquetoast, rapscallion, nostrum, lackadaisy, speakeasy, rumrunner, hydrophoby, dithyramb, avarice and 85 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for bearberry.
frogapplause How about a Wordie group hug?
(Bilby, keep your ears to yourself!) May 4, 2009
inktree I just want to give a big hug to everyone else who loves this word. May 4, 2009