Huckleberry
Origin
Full definition of huckleberry
Noun
huckleberry
(plural huckleberries)- A small round fruit of a dark blue or red color of several plants in the related genera Vaccinium and Gaylussacia.
- 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, Mr. Pratt's Patients Chapter 1, I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.
- A shrub growing this fruit.
- (idiomatic) A small amount, as in the phrase huckleberry above a persimmon.
Usage notes
While some Vaccinium species, such as , the red huckleberry, are always called huckleberries, other species may be called blueberries or huckleberries depending upon local custom. Usually, the distinction between them is that blueberries are white on the inside in most cases compared to huckleberries which very from red to purple inside with a couple dozen tiny seeds.