stone-fruit
Definition
- Noun:
- A type of fruit with a hard pit: "stone-fruit" refers to a fruit that contains a single hard stone or pit (also called a drupe), such as a peach, plum, or cherry. The flesh is typically juicy and surrounds the hard inner seed.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- Peaches and plums are popular stone-fruit varieties. (These fruits belong to the category that has a hard pit inside.)
- The farmer grows several kinds of stone-fruit on his orchard. (He cultivates fruits like apricots and nectarines, which have a central stone.)
Advanced Usage
"stone-fruit season": the time of year when stone-fruits are harvested and at their best.
- Summer is the peak stone-fruit season, with cherries and peaches in abundance. (The warm months are when these fruits are most available and flavorful.)
"stone-fruit allergy": an allergic reaction to certain proteins found in stone-fruits.
- Some people with pollen allergies also experience a stone-fruit allergy. (They may have symptoms like itching or swelling after eating peaches or plums.)
Variants and Related Words
Stone fruit (n, alternative spelling): the same as stone-fruit, often written without a hyphen.
- Apricots are a common stone fruit. (Apricots belong to the drupe family with a hard pit.)
Drupe (n): the botanical term for a stone-fruit.
- Botanically, a mango is also a drupe, though it is not always called a stone-fruit. (Mangoes have a hard pit but are less commonly grouped with peaches and plums.)
Synonyms
- Drupe: the scientific name for a fruit with a fleshy outer part and a hard inner stone.
- Pit fruit: an informal term for stone-fruit, emphasizing the hard seed inside.
Related Idioms and Phrases
"the stone of the fruit": refers to the hard pit itself.
- Be careful not to bite into the stone of the fruit when eating a cherry. (The pit is hard and inedible.)
"stone-fruit tree": a tree that produces stone-fruits.
- Peach and plum trees are classic stone-fruit trees. (They bear fruits with a single hard seed.)