bird pepper
- noun
- /bɜrd ˈpɛpər/
- US
:
pimiento de ave
- Wild bird peppers can still be found growing in parts of Central America.
Examples
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The bird pepper is prized by chefs for its intense heat and distinct flavor.
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Scientists speculate that the bird pepper is ancestral to many cultivated hot peppers.
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The bird pepper plant thrives in warm climates.
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Many chefs love to use bird peppers in their dishes.
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The chef added chopped bird pepper to the salsa to give it extra heat.
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In tropical gardens, bird pepper plants can flourish and produce vibrant red fruits.
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Due to its intense spiciness, a little bird pepper goes a long way in enhancing a dish.
Synonyms
A small plant with tiny, very hot red peppers used in South American cooking
A pepper plant from tropical America that has small very hot red fruits often used in cooking
How Spicy
- US
- Specialized
- UK
21
1.0
3
2.4
20
2.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
bird + pepper
The noun–noun combination is compositionally transparent in that a learner who knows 'bird' and 'pepper' can infer it is a kind of pepper associated with birds (i.e., a specific type of pepper). However, the particular attributes in the definition — extremely small, very hot fruits and its status as an ancestor of other peppers — are specialized botanical details not predictable from the constituents, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Bird pepper probably comes from birds eating the tiny, hot fruits and then spreading the seeds, or from the little red fruits looking like a 'bird's eye'. So the name connects bird, who eats and spreads the seeds, and pepper, the spicy fruit, which helps you remember this small, very hot chili.