Definitions

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

  • noun Any of various shrubs of the genus Myrica, having aromatic foliage and small round fruits with a waxy covering.
  • noun The fruit of these trees.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The fruit of the bay-tree, or Laurus nobilis.
  • noun The wax-myrtle, Myrica cerifera, and its fruit.
  • noun In Jamaica, the Pimenta acris, from which an oil is obtained which is used in the manufacture of bay-rum.

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

  • noun The fruit of the bay tree or Laurus nobilis.
  • noun A tree of the West Indies related to the myrtle (Pimenta acris).
  • noun The fruit of Myrica cerifera (wax myrtle); the shrub itself; -- called also candleberry tree.
  • noun a fragrant green wax obtained from the bayberry or wax myrtle; -- called also myrtle wax.

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

  • noun Common name of the plants in the genus Myrica, a North American shrub with aromatic leather leaves and waxy berries.
  • noun A tropical American shrub with aromatic leaves that are used in the preparation of bay rum.

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

  • noun West Indian tree; source of bay rum
  • noun deciduous aromatic shrub of eastern North America with grey-green wax-coated berries

Etymologies

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

[bay + berry.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

bay +‎ berry

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Examples

  • Dr. Fuja continued, "We are particularly pleased to include in the formulation the powerful, marquis super-antioxidant yum berry (yang-mei in Chinese), also known as red bayberry, which is harvested from one hundred-year-old trees, and the flavonoid-rich concord grape, which has been shown to contain potent antioxidants that may protect against oxidative stress and reduce the risk of free radical damage and chronic diseases."

    BioSpace.com Featured News and Stories 2009

  • (RNS) Smoke wafts upward as the Rev. Mike Peters blows on the Knick-Knick, a sacred herbal blend of spearmint leaves, red willow bark, sage, sweet grass and bayberry bush.

    American Indian and Christian Beliefs Blend at Michigan Church Josh Fleet 2010

  • Some appropriate shrubs are summersweet, Virginia sweetspire, southern bayberry and winterberry holly.

    Green Scene: Some ideas for an environmentally friendly landscape 2011

  • (RNS) Smoke wafts upward as the Rev. Mike Peters blows on the Knick-Knick, a sacred herbal blend of spearmint leaves, red willow bark, sage, sweet grass and bayberry bush.

    American Indian and Christian Beliefs Blend at Michigan Church The Huffington Post News Team 2010

  • (RNS) Smoke wafts upward as the Rev. Mike Peters blows on the Knick-Knick, a sacred herbal blend of spearmint leaves, red willow bark, sage, sweet grass and bayberry bush.

    American Indian and Christian Beliefs Blend at Michigan Church Josh Fleet 2010

  • He attempted to bring back the game's naturalist approach by using only native plants—pitch pine, shad, scrub oak, bayberry and wild blueberry—and incorporating structural elements of the old racetrack.

    The Court of Modernism Alastair Gordon 2011

  • She found her friend outside, crouched down in front of a large bayberry bush.

    Among the Ghosts Amber Benson 2010

  • Candles in holiday colors, scented cranberry and bayberry and vanilla.

    Fallout Ellen Hopkins 2010

  • As Betty MacDonald says, "We had quite a few candles but we learned that a wick is a wick even if a candle is three feet tall and bayberry."

    Making Light: Making light under difficult conditions 2010

  • Soft music plays, crystal chandeliers sparkle like diamonds in the dimmed light and candles fill the air with the seasonal scent of bayberry.

    Nancy Ruhling: Astoria Characters: The Gallant Globe-Trotter 2010

Comments

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  • in nature there are few sharp lines: there are areas of

    primrose

    more or less dispersed;

    disorderly orders of bayberry; between the rows

    of dunes

    irregular swamps of reeds

    though not reeds alone, but grass bayberry, yarrow, all . . .

    predominantly reeds:

    - A. R. Ammons, 'Corsons Inlet'.

    August 31, 2009