huckleberry

[ huhk-uhl-ber-ee ]

noun

, plural huck·le·ber·ries.

1. the dark-blue or black edible berry of any of various shrubs belonging to the genus Gaylussacia of the heath family.
2. a shrub bearing such fruit.
3. blueberry ( def 1 ).

huckleberry

/ ˈhʌkəlˌbɛrɪ /

noun

1. any American ericaceous shrub of the genus Gaylussacia, having edible dark blue berries with large seeds
2. the fruit of any of these shrubs
3. another name for blueberry
4. a Brit name for whortleberry

Word History and Origins

Origin of huckleberry¹

1660–70, Americanism; perhaps alteration of hurtleberry

Word History and Origins

Origin of huckleberry¹

C17: probably a variant of hurtleberry, of unknown origin

Example Sentences

Everett's James is a retelling of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written from the perspective of the runaway slave, Jim.

From BBC

I really appreciated the language in the film, such as a line, “That’s a huckleberry above my persimmon,” which I am going to start using immediately.

From Salon

The star of the 1939 film “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” Rooney was cast in Rainier commercials as an opera-singing Canadian Mountie and again as a woodsman who stalked the trophy wild Rainiers high in the Cascade Mountains.

From Seattle Times

After leaving the studio in 1968, the Sherman brothers wrote songs for films such as “Charlotte’s Web” and collaborated on screenplays for films such as “Tom Sawyer,” “Huckleberry Finn,” “The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella,” and “The Magic of Lassie.”

From Los Angeles Times

A Pacific Northwest forest planted with Douglas fir, cedar, hemlock and larch underplanted with evergreen huckleberry, salal and ferns transitions to an open woodland of native dogwood trees, red twig dogwood and flowering red currant.

From Seattle Times