sloe

[ sloh ]
See synonyms for sloe on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the small, sour, blackish fruit of the blackthorn, Prunus spinosa, of the rose family.

  2. the shrub itself.

  1. any of various other plants of the genus Prunus, as a shrub or small tree, P. alleghaniensis, bearing dark-purple fruit.

Origin of sloe

1
before 900; Middle English slo,Old English slā(h); cognate with German Schlehe,Dutch slee

Words Nearby sloe

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sloe in a sentence

  • But hold your tongue for a while, and cast your eye along the valley, and watch the mist gathering on the furze and sloe trees.

  • Thus, at half-past ten, we find her officers drinking the toast of Deutschland unter Alles in sloe-gin.

  • Slender as a young willow, supple as an ash, eyes like the berries of the sloe-thorn.

    Joan of the Sword Hand | S(amuel) R(utherford) Crockett
  • The last red roseleaf had fluttered silently down; the last purple sloe had fallen from its sapless stem.

    Creatures of the Night | Alfred W. Rees
  • I looked, and sure enough he held it in his hand; and then I understood the flash of irony in the sloe-black eyes of him.

    The Master of Appleby | Francis Lynde

British Dictionary definitions for sloe

sloe

/ (sləʊ) /


noun
  1. the small sour blue-black fruit of the blackthorn

  2. another name for blackthorn

Origin of sloe

1
Old English slāh; related to Old High German slēha, Middle Dutch sleuuwe

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012