fruit Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the ripened reproductive body of a seed plant
  2. noun an amount of a product
    yield.
  3. noun the consequence of some effort or action
    • he lived long enough to see the fruit of his policies
  4. verb cause to bear fruit
  5. verb bear fruit
    • the trees fruited early this year

WordNet

Fruit noun
Etymology
OE. fruit, frut, F. fruit, from L. fructus enjoyment, product, fruit, from frui, p. p. fructus, to enjoy; akin to E. brook, v. t. See Broook, v. t., and cf. Fructify, Frugal.
Definitions
  1. Whatever is produced for the nourishment or enjoyment of man or animals by the processes of vegetable growth, as corn, grass, cotton, flax, etc.; -- commonly used in the plural.
    Six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof. Ex. xxiii. 10.
  2. (Hort.) The pulpy, edible seed vessels of certain plants, especially those grown on branches above ground, as apples, oranges, grapes, melons, berries, etc. See 3.
  3. (Bot.) The ripened ovary of a flowering plant, with its contents and whatever parts are consolidated with it. ✍ Fruits are classified as fleshy, drupaceous, and -dry. Fleshy fruits include berries, gourds, and melons, orangelike fruita and pomes; drupaceous fruits are stony within and fleshy without, as peaches, plums, and chercies;and dry fruits are further divided into achenes, follicles, legumes, capsules, nuts, and several other kinds.
  4. (Bot.) The spore cases or conceptacles of flowerless plants, as of ferns, mosses, algae, etc., with the spores contained in them.
  5. The produce of animals; offspring; young; as, the fruit of the womb, of the loins, of the body.
    King Edward's fruit, true heir to the English crown. Shak.
  6. That which is produced; the effect or consequence of any action; advantageous or desirable product or result; disadvantageous or evil consequence or effect; as, the fruits of labor, of self-denial, of intemperance.
    The fruit of rashness. Shak.
    What I obtained was the fruit of no bargain. Burke.
    They shall eat the fruit of their doings. Is. iii 10.
    The fruits of this education became visible. Macaulay.
    ✍ Fruit is frequently used adjectively, signifying of, for, or pertaining to a fruit or fruits; as, fruit bud; fruit frame; fruit jar; fruit knife; fruit loft; fruit show; fruit stall; fruit tree; etc.
Fruit intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To bear fruit. Chesterfield.

Webster 1913