Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Fruit \Fruit\, n. [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 Brook, v. t., and cf. Fructify, Frugal.]
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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. (Hort.) The pulpy, edible seed vessels of certain plants, especially those grown on branches above ground, as apples, oranges, grapes, melons, berries, etc. See
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3. (Bot.) The ripened ovary of a flowering plant, with its contents and whatever parts are consolidated with it.
Note: Fruits are classified as fleshy, drupaceous, and dry. Fleshy fruits include berries, gourds, and melons, orangelike fruits and pomes; drupaceous fruits are stony within and fleshy without, as peaches, plums, and cherries; and dry fruits are further divided into achenes, follicles, legumes, capsules, nuts, and several other kinds.
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(Bot.) The spore cases or conceptacles of flowerless plants, as of ferns, mosses, algae, etc., with the spores contained in them.
6. 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.Note: 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 bat (Zo["o]l.), one of the Frugivora; -- called also fruit-eating bat.
Fruit bud (Bot.), a bud that produces fruit; -- in most oplants the same as the power bud.
Fruit dot (Bot.), a collection of fruit cases, as in ferns. See Sorus.
Fruit fly (Zo["o]l.), a small dipterous insect of the genus Drosophila, which lives in fruit, in the larval state. There are seveal species, some of which are very damaging to fruit crops. One species, Drosophila melanogaster, has been intensively studied as a model species for genetic reserach.
Fruit jar, a jar for holding preserved fruit, usually made of glass or earthenware.
Fruit pigeon (Zo["o]l.), one of numerous species of pigeons of the family Carpophagid[ae], inhabiting India, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. They feed largely upon fruit. and are noted for their beautiful colors.
Fruit sugar (Chem.), a kind of sugar occurring, naturally formed, in many ripe fruits, and in honey; levulose. The name is also, though rarely, applied to invert sugar, or to the natural mixture or dextrose and levulose resembling it, and found in fruits and honey.
Fruit tree (Hort.), a tree cultivated for its edible fruit.
Fruit worm (Zo["o]l.), one of numerous species of insect larv[ae]: which live in the interior of fruit. They are mostly small species of Lepidoptera and Diptera.
Small fruits (Hort.), currants, raspberries, strawberries, etc.
Wiktionary
n. Any of several tropical fruit-eating bats of the family Pteropodidae; a megabat.
WordNet
n. large Old World bat of warm and tropical regions that feeds on fruit [syn: megabat]
Wikipedia
Fruit Bat can refer to:
- Megabats, a suborder of bats which eat fruit
- Les "Fruitbat" Carter, guitarist of Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine
- Fruit Bats (band), an American band
Usage examples of "fruit bat".
The jetsam of divorce can be embarrassing, so you couldn't fault someone a bathtub or fruit bat rescued out of love's shipwreck, but he might have mentioned he was a cop before he suggested burying her ex and going to dinner.
There was a scratch and scuttle on the tin roof, followed by the bark of a fruit bat.
In 1994, spontaneous male lactation was at last reported in males of a wild animal species, the Dyak fruit bat of Malaysia and adjacent islands.
It had been (they told him) only a large fruit bat, deranged, probably by some chemical poison, driven to fly at him in broad daylight.
The sun crept slowly across the bedclothes, as if nervous of what it might find amongst them, slunk down the side of the bed, moved in a rather startled way across some objects it encountered on the floor, toyed nervously with a couple of motes of dust, lit briefly on a stuffed fruit bat hanging in the corner, and fled.
Captain Hjlarza wasn't very friendly or communicative, but Mavra had managed to establish at least a working relationship with the vicious-looking Stulz, who reminded her of nothing more than a gigantic fruit bat although she doubted he could ever fly no matter what the leathery wing material might do otherwise.
Of course, he's crazy as a fruit bat, which is why they leave him alone, but he might know something useful.