hobblebush

[ hob-uhl-boosh ]

noun

1. a North American shrub, Viburnum alnifolium, of the honeysuckle family, having flat-topped clusters of white flowers and red-to-black berrylike fruit.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hobblebush¹

1810–20, Americanism; hobble + bush ¹; so called from the fact that it obstructs the way with its branches

Example Sentences

Here is a part of Mr. Kennard's list: shad-bush, gray, silky, and red osier, cornel, dangleberry, huckleberry, inkberry, black alder, bayberry, shining, smooth, and staghorn sumachs, large-flowering currant, thimbleberry, blackberry, elder, snowberry, dwarf bilberry, blueberry, black haw, hobblebush, and arrow-wood.

From Project Gutenberg