Win·ter n.
 1. The season of the year in which the sun shines most obliquely upon any region; the coldest season of the year.  “Of thirty winter he was old.”
 And after summer evermore succeeds
 Barren winter, with his wrathful nipping cold.   --Shak.
    Winter lingering chills the lap of May.   --Goldsmith.
 Note: ☞ North of the equator, winter is popularly taken to include the months of December, January, and February (see Season).  Astronomically, it may be considered to begin with the winter solstice, about December 21st, and to end with the vernal equinox, about March 21st.
 2. The period of decay, old age, death, or the like.
    Life's autumn past, I stand on winter's verge.   --Wordsworth.
 Winter apple, an apple that keeps well in winter, or that does not ripen until winter.
 Winter barley, a kind of barley that is sown in autumn.
 Winter berry Bot.,  the name of several American shrubs (Ilex verticillata, Ilex laevigata, etc.) of the Holly family, having bright red berries conspicuous in winter.
 Winter bloom. Bot. (a) A plant of the genus Azalea. (b) A plant of the genus Hamamelis (Hamamelis Viginica); witch-hazel; -- so called from its flowers appearing late in autumn, while the leaves are falling.
 Winter bud Zool., a statoblast.
 Winter cherry Bot., a plant (Physalis Alkekengi) of the Nightshade family, which has, a red berry inclosed in the inflated and persistent calyx.  See Alkekengi.
 Winter cough Med., a form of chronic bronchitis marked by a cough recurring each winter.
 Winter cress Bot., a yellow-flowered cruciferous plant (Barbarea vulgaris).
 Winter crop, a crop which will bear the winter, or which may be converted into fodder during the winter.
 Winter duck. Zool. (a) The pintail. (b) The old squaw.
 Winter egg Zool., an egg produced in the autumn by many invertebrates, and destined to survive the winter. Such eggs usually differ from the summer eggs in having a thicker shell, and often in being enveloped in a protective case. They sometimes develop in a manner different from that of the summer eggs.
 Winter fallow, ground that is fallowed in winter.
 Winter fat. Bot. Same as White sage, under White.
 Winter fever Med., pneumonia. [Colloq.]
 Winter flounder. Zool. See the Note under Flounder.
 Winter gull Zool., the common European gull; -- called also winter mew. [Prov. Eng.]
 Winter itch. Med. See Prarie itch, under Prairie.
 Winter lodge, or Winter lodgment. Bot. Same as Hibernaculum.
 Winter mew. Zool. Same as Winter gull, above. [Prov. Eng.]
 Winter moth Zool., any one of several species of geometrid moths which come forth in winter, as the European species (Cheimatobia brumata). These moths have rudimentary mouth organs, and eat no food in the imago state. The female of some of the species is wingless.
 Winter oil, oil prepared so as not to solidify in moderately cold weather.
 Winter pear, a kind of pear that keeps well in winter, or that does not ripen until winter.
 Winter quarters, the quarters of troops during the winter; a winter residence or station.
 Winter rye, a kind of rye that is sown in autumn.
 Winter shad Zool., the gizzard shad.
 Winter sheldrake Zool., the goosander. [Local, U. S.]
 Winter sleep Zool., hibernation.
 Winter snipe Zool., the dunlin.
 Winter solstice. Astron. See Solstice, 2.
 Winter teal Zool., the green-winged teal.
 Winter wagtail Zool., the gray wagtail (Motacilla melanope). [Prov. Eng.]
 Winter wheat, wheat sown in autumn, which lives during the winter, and ripens in the following summer.
 Winter wren Zool., a small American wren (Troglodytes hiemalis) closely resembling the common wren.


 Al·ke·ken·gi n.  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.

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 Cher·ry n.
 1. Bot. A tree or shrub of the genus Prunus (Which also includes the plum) bearing a fleshy drupe with a bony stone; (a) The common garden cherry (Prunus Cerasus), of which several hundred varieties are cultivated for the fruit, some of which are, the begarreau, blackheart, black Tartarian, oxheart, morelle or morello, May-duke (corrupted from Médoc in France). (b) The wild cherry; as, Prunus serotina (wild black cherry), valued for its timber; Prunus Virginiana (choke cherry), an American shrub which bears astringent fruit; Prunus avium and Prunus Padus, European trees (bird cherry).
 2. The fruit of the cherry tree, a drupe of various colors and flavors.
 3. The timber of the cherry tree, esp. of the black cherry, used in cabinetmaking, etc.
 4. A peculiar shade of red, like that of a cherry.
 Barbadoes cherry. See under Barbadoes.
 Cherry bird Zool., an American bird; the cedar bird; -- so called from its fondness for cherries.
 Cherry bounce, cherry brandy and sugar.
 Cherry brandy, brandy in which cherries have been steeped.
 Cherry laurel Bot., an evergreen shrub (Prunus Lauro-cerasus) common in shrubberies, the poisonous leaves of which have a flavor like that of bitter almonds.
 Cherry pepper Bot., a species of Capsicum (Capsicum cerasiforme), with small, scarlet, intensely piquant cherry-shaped fruit.
 Cherry pit. (a) A child's play, in which cherries are thrown into a hole. --Shak. (b) A cherry stone.
 Cherry rum, rum in which cherries have been steeped.
 Cherry sucker Zool., the European spotted flycatcher (Musicapa grisola); -- called also cherry chopper cherry snipe.
 Cherry tree, a tree that bears cherries.
 Ground cherry, Winter cherry, See Alkekengi.


 winter cherry
      n 1: Old World perennial cultivated for its ornamental inflated
           papery orange-red calyx [syn: Chinese lantern plant, {bladder
           cherry, Physalis alkekengi]
      2: small South American shrub cultivated as a houseplant for
         its abundant ornamental but poisonous red or yellow
         cherry-sized fruit [syn: Jerusalem cherry, {Madeira
         winter cherry, Solanum pseudocapsicum]