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Glite Dictionary
chokecherry tree

chokecherry tree

1 8.3
A wild North American cherry tree with small dark berries that taste bitter and attract birds
  • noun
  • /ˈtʃoʊkˌtʃɛri tri/
  • US
translation icon : árbol de cereza amarga
  • The night air was blue, and shadows bounced under the chokecherry tree in the backyard.

Examples

  • In late spring, the chokecherry tree produces clusters of tiny, astringent fruit.

  • "They'd be side by side except for a good-sized chokecherry tree sprouting right between them.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • CHOKECHERRY TREE IN BLOOM.

    Beloved (1998)

  • The chokecherry tree in our garden attracts many birds with its dark berries.

  • Children love to play under the shady branches of the chokecherry tree.

Synonyms

chokecherry
vschokecherry tree
  • Specialized
1 8.9

A North American wild tree that has clusters of small bitter dark red or black berries

is instead focused on birds favoring astringent dark berries rather than on color
Prunus virginiana
vschokecherry tree
  • Specialized
8.8

A small wild tree with bitter black cherries that birds eat

is the common descriptive term that focuses on astringent dark berries rather than taxonomy
wild cherry
vschokecherry tree
4.0

A small tree that grows naturally and the small tart fruit it makes

is a specific North American species with astringent dark berries favored by birds

Surface Forms

chokecherry tree singular
chokecherry trees plural

Morphology

chokecherry + tree

The compound is clearly compositional: 'tree' names the plant and 'chokecherry' can be parsed as 'choke' + 'cherry', i.e. a type of cherry (noting the astringent quality implied by 'choke'). A B1 learner who knows the words 'choke', 'cherry', and 'tree' can readily infer this refers to a tree that bears chokecherries, so the expression is transparently interpretable from its parts.

Etymology

The name chokecherry tree may come from the very sour, mouth-drying berries that can make you cough, so people thought the fruit could 'choke' you and called it choke plus cherry. That's why the name now refers to the wild cherry tree with dark berries that birds eat or people cook into jams.