The Collaborative International Dictionary
ground cherry
Alkekengi \Al`ke*ken"gi\, n. [Cf. F. alk['e]kenge, Sp.
alquequenje, ultimately fr. Ar. al-k[=a]kanj a kind of resin
from Herat.] (Bot.)
An herbaceous plant of the nightshade family ( Physalis
alkekengi) and its fruit, which is a well flavored berry,
the size of a cherry, loosely inclosed in a enlarged leafy
calyx; -- also called winter cherry, ground cherry, and
strawberry tomato.
--D. C. Eaton.
WordNet
ground cherry
n. any of numerous cosmopolitan annual or perennial herbs of the genus Physalis bearing edible fleshy berries enclosed in a bladderlike husk; some cultivated for their flowers [syn: husk tomato]