The Collaborative International Dictionary
Gooseberry \Goose"ber*ry\, n.; pl. Gooseberries, [Corrupted for groseberry or groiseberry, fr. OF. groisele, F. groseille, -- of German origin; cf. G. krausbeere, kr["a]uselbeere (fr. kraus crisp), D. kruisbes, kruisbezie (as if crossberry, fr. kruis cross; for kroesbes, kroesbezie, fr. kroes crisp), Sw. krusb["a]r (fr. krus, krusing, crisp). The first part of the word is perh. akin to E. curl. Cf. Grossular, a.]
(Bot.) Any thorny shrub of the genus Ribes; also, the edible berries of such shrub. There are several species, of which Ribes Grossularia is the one commonly cultivated.
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A silly person; a goose cap.
--Goldsmith.Barbadoes gooseberry, a climbing prickly shrub ( Pereskia aculeata) of the West Indies, which bears edible berries resembling gooseberries.
Coromandel gooseberry. See Carambola.
Gooseberry fool. See 1st Fool.
Gooseberry worm (Zo["o]l.), the larva of a small moth ( Dakruma convolutella). It destroys the gooseberry by eating the interior.
Usage examples of "gooseberry fool".
Colcannon, perhaps, and a gooseberry fool for dessert-if she could find enough ripe gooseberries.
Daphne had worked for three days preparing the meal, and I realized that she'd not invited me for lunch the previous Sunday because she had been trying out on Dicky the same cucumber soup recipe, and the same wild rice, and the same gooseberry fool that she served for the dinner party.
After it was over the robots had another dinner for him, roast beef and baked ham, potatoes Lyonnaise, and gooseberry fool with clotted Devonshire cream.
She sat there on her high-cushioned chair and as Stephen helped her to gooseberry fool she turned her face to him.