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Glite Dictionary
pepper vine

pepper vine

6.2
A climbing or bush plant whose small fruits are dried to make a common cooking spice
  • noun
  • /ˈpɛpər vaɪn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : planta de pimienta
  • The black pepper we use in cooking is produced from the dried fruit of a pepper vine.

Examples

  • Gardeners often cultivate pepper vine for its aromatic leaves and decorative appearance.

  • The pepper vine can be found growing in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide.

  • The pepper vine grows well in warm climates.

  • You can find pepper vines in many gardens.

  • The gardener planted a pepper vine in the corner of the yard, hoping to enjoy its aromatic leaves in her cooking.

  • My friend has a beautiful pepper vine growing along the trellis, adding a lovely green touch to her patio.

  • We learned that the pepper vine can thrive in both sunny and partially shaded areas, making it a versatile addition to any garden.

Synonyms

true pepper
vspepper vine
  • Specialized
1 6.8

A climbing plant from the tropics that makes small round spice seeds used in cooking

includes both spice-grown and ornamental varieties

Surface Forms

pepper vine singular
pepper vines plural

Morphology

pepper + vine

The noun phrase is compositionally built from 'pepper' (the plant/berries) and 'vine' (a twining plant), so its meaning — a vine that produces or is related to pepper — is directly derivable from the constituents. This straightforward, literal noun–noun modification is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily understand the MWE.

Etymology

Pepper vine comes from a simple image: a vine that grows spicy pepper berries used to make 'black pepper'. So the name means the climbing plant that gives us this 'spice' and is often grown for cooking or decoration.