# gooseberry
## English
### Etymology

From goose +‎ berry. It is possible that the first element was originally something related to the gros- of French groseille and/or the kruis- of Dutch kruisbes but has been altered by folk etymology.

### Pronunciation

* (US) IPA: /ˈɡusˌbɛɹi/
* (UK) IPA: /ˈɡʊzb(ə)ɹi/, /ˈɡuːsb(ə)ɹi/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (General Australian):(file)

### Noun

gooseberry (plural gooseberries)
* A fruit of species Ribes uva-crispa, related to the currant.
    Synonym: (UK informal) goosegog
    We had a good haul of gooseberries from our bushes this year.
* Any other plant or fruit in the subgenus Grossularia, distinguished from currants by bearing spines, including Ribes hirtellum (American gooseberry).
* Any of several other plants that are not closely related but bear fruit in some way similar:
** Chinese gooseberry or kiwifruit, the edible berry of a cultivar group of the woody vine Actinidia deliciosa and hybrids between this and other species in the genus Actinidia
** Indian gooseberry (Phyllanthus emblica), emblic, amla.
** Ceylon gooseberry, a species of Dovyalis native to Sri Lanka and southern India
** Barbados gooseberry (Pereskia aculeata), an unusual cactus
** Long Key locustberry or shiny locustberry (Byrsonima lucida)
** Jamaican gooseberry tree (Phyllanthus acuminatus), a herb-like plant
** star gooseberry
*** Otaheite gooseberry (Phyllanthus acidus)
*** Katuk (Sauropus androgynus), a shrub grown in some tropical regions as a leaf vegetable
** Physalis angulata, also called balloon cherry and cutleaf groundcherry
** Cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana), indigenous to South America
** poison gooseberry (Withania somnifera)
* (dated, British slang) A chaperone.
* (chiefly British) An additional person who is neither necessary nor wanted in a given situation.
    Synonyms: third wheel, fifth wheel
    Robert and Susan were so in love with each other that nobody could go near them without feeling like a gooseberry.
** 1915, L[ucy] M[aud] Montgomery, “In the Park”, in Anne of the Island, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, →OCLC:"But," said Philippa dolefully, "if I go I'll have to be gooseberry, and that will be a new experience for Philippa Gordon."
** 1993 October 21, Rob Grant, Doug Naylor, Gunmen of the Apocalypse (Red Dwarf), season 6, episode 3, spoken by Dave Lister (Craig Charles):Kryten, you are a total gooseberry. Next time I play on the AR machine I'm going to give you some money and send you to the pictures.
* (dated, British slang) A fool.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:fool
* (dated, British slang) A fantastic story; a tall tale; a hoax.
* (dated, British slang, vulgar, usually in the plural) A testicle.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:testicles

#### Derived terms

* Cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana)
* Chinese gooseberry (Actinidia spp.)
* Coromandel gooseberry (Averrhoa carambola)
* do gooseberry
* gooseberry dieback
* gooseberry eye
* gooseberry-eyed
* gooseberry gourd
* gooseberry-grinder
* gooseberrying
* gooseberryish
* gooseberry lay
* gooseberrylike
* gooseberry mildew
* gooseberry-picker
* gooseberry pudding
* gooseberry rust (Aecidium grossulariae, Puccinia caricina var. pringsheimiana, Podosphaera mors-uvae)
* gooseberry season
* gooseberry tart
* gooseberry tree
* gooseberry wig
* green as a gooseberry
* Missouri gooseberry
* Old Gooseberry
* pick gooseberry
* play gooseberry
* sea gooseberry, sea-gooseberry (Pleurobrachia pileus)
* spreading gooseberry (Ribes divaricatum)

#### Translations
### References

* 1 2 3 4 John S[tephen] Farmer; W[illiam] E[rnest] Henley, compilers (1893) “gooseberry”, in Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present. […], volume III, [London: […] Harrison and Sons] […], →OCLC, pages 182–184.
* ↑ Albert Barrère and Charles G[odfrey] Leland, compilers and editors (1889–1890) “gooseberry”, in A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant […], volume I (A–K), Edinburgh: […] The Ballantyne Press, →OCLC, page 419.