Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A deep to vivid purplish red.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Cherry color.
  • Cherry-colored.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Cherry-colored; a light bright red; -- applied to textile fabrics, especially silk.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A deep, bright red colour tinted with pink.
  • adjective Cherry-colored; a light bright red; -- applied to textile fabrics, especially silk.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective of a color at the end of the color spectrum (next to orange); resembling the color of blood or cherries or tomatoes or rubies
  • noun a red the color of ripe cherries

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Old French, cherry; see cherry.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French cerise (mid 19th century), itself from Vulgar Latin ceresia. Doublet of cherry.

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Examples

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  • "The ships were massive, built like pieces of architecture, and seemed almost amphibious, like lesser Venices set in the heart of the greater, when, moored to the banks by gangways decked with crimson satin and Persian carpets, they bore their freight of ladies in cerise brocade and green damask close under the balconies incrusted with multicoloured marble from which other ladies leaned to gaze at them, in gowns with black sleeves slashed with white pearls or bordered with lace."

    -- Within a Budding Grove by Marcel Proust, translated by C.K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin, Revised by D.J. Enright, p 653 of the Modern Library paperback edition

    May 7, 2008

  • "Finally, before leaving the picture, my eyes came back to the shore, swarming with the everyday Venetian life of the period. I looked at the barber wiping his razor, at the negro humping his barrel, at the Muslims conversing, at the noblemen in wide-sleeved brocade and damask robes and hats of cerise velvet, and suddenly I felt a slight gnawing at my heart."

    --The Captive & The Fugitive by Marcel Proust, translated by C.K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin, revised by D.J. Enright, p 877 of the Modern Library paperback edition

    February 22, 2010