fruit: Meaning and Definition of

fruit

Pronunciation: (frt), [key]
— n., pl. v. fruits, fruit,
—n.
  1. any product of plant growth useful to humans or animals.
  2. the developed ovary of a seed plant with its contents and accessory parts, as the pea pod, nut, tomato, or pineapple.
  3. the edible part of a plant developed from a flower, with any accessory tissues, as the peach, mulberry, or banana.
  4. the spores and accessory organs of ferns, mosses, fungi, algae, or lichen.
  5. anything produced or accruing; product, result, or effect; return or profit: the fruits of one's labors.
  6. . a male homosexual.
—v.i., v.t.
  1. to bear or cause to bear fruit: a tree that fruits in late summer; careful pruning that sometimes fruits a tree.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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