gooseberry

Meaning

Noun

• A fruit, Ribes uva-crispa, related to the currant.
• Any other plant or fruit in the subgenus Grossularia (species), distinguished from currants by bearing spines, including Ribes hirtellum, the American gooseberry.
• Any of several other plants that are not closely related but bear fruit in some way similar:
• A chaperone.
• An additional person who is neither necessary nor wanted in a given situation.
• A fool.
• A fantastic story; a tall tale; a hoax.
• A testicle.

Related

Similar words

• goosegog
• third wheel, fifth wheel

Origin

• From goose + berry. It is possible that the first element was originally something related to the gros- of French groseille and/or the kruis- of Dutch kruisbes but has been altered by folk etymology.