dingleberry

Noun

dingleberry (plural dingleberries)

1. Vaccinium erythrocarpum, the southern mountain cranberry.
   • dingleberries, or mountain-cranberries (Huge'ria, syn. Oxycoccoi'des), cranberries (Oxycoc'cus)1937, US Government Printing Office, Range Plant Handbook
   • Helen sat on the ground crumbling hard lumps of clay between her fingers, and tried to imagine the green place in the swamp where the dingleberries grew.1959, Gordon Webber, What end but love

   Synonyms:

   arando, bearberry

2. (derogatory, slang) A stupid or foolish person.

   Synonyms:

   idiot, moron

3. (derogatory, slang) Dried fecal matter adhering to anal hair.

   Synonyms:

   dag, dags

4. (dated) Any residual irregularity following processing.
   • The contour of the root bead is very irregular and solidified drops of metal, "cherries" or "dingleberries," extend therefrom evidencing burn-throughs.1951, Charles Diehl, Method for Welding a Joint, US Patent 2747065, page 3
   • That still left the problem of deciding on the "dingleberries"—the employees who would be exempt from seniority restrictions because of "special skills and outstanding abilities."1966 May 20, “Stymied by Seniority”, in Time, archived from the original on 03 Feb 2009