fruits

Noun

fruit (countable and uncountable, plural fruits)

1. A product of fertilization in a plant, specifically
   • [A]fter the flower is past commeth the fruit in long pods, every seede bunching out like the pods of Orobus and as bigge almost as the smaller Pease.1640, John Parkinson, Theatrum botanicum: the Theater of Plants; or, An Herball of a Large Extent, London, page 1063
2. The seed-bearing part of a plant; often edible, colourful, fragrant, and sweet or sour; produced from a floral ovary after fertilization.
3. The spores of cryptogams and their accessory organs.
4. Any sweet or sour, edible part of a plant that resembles seed-bearing fruit (see former sense) even if it does not develop from a floral ovary.
   • It’s true that agriculture at the time was organic, food was locally produced and there were no ultraprocessed foods. But fresh fruits and vegetables were in short supply because they were difficult to ship and because growing seasons were so short.2025 January 13, Gina Kolata, “Have Americans Ever Really Been Healthy?”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 14 Jan 2025
   1. A sweet or sweetish vegetable, such as the petioles of rhubarb, that resembles a true fruit or is used in cookery as if it was a fruit.
5. An end result, effect, or consequence; advantageous or disadvantageous result.
   • His long nights in the office eventually bore fruit when his business boomed and he was given a raise.

See all 13 meanings of fruit