sloe Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun wild plum of northeastern United States having dark purple fruits with yellow flesh
    Allegheny plum; Prunus alleghaniensis; Alleghany plum.
  2. noun a thorny Eurasian bush with plumlike fruits
    blackthorn; Prunus spinosa.
  3. noun small sour dark purple fruit of especially the Allegheny plum bush

WordNet

Sloe noun
Etymology
OE. slo, AS. sla; akin to D. slee, G. schlehe, OHG. sl$ha, Dan. slaaen, Sw. sln, perhaps originally, that which blunts the teeth, or sets them on edge (cf. Slow); cf. Lith. sliwa a plum, Russ. sliva.
Definitions
  1. (Bot.) A small, bitter, wild European plum, the fruit of the blackthorn (Prunus spinosa); also, the tree itself.

Webster 1913