Definition of "hackberry" [hack•ber•ry]

• Any of various trees or shrubs of the genus Celtis, having inconspicuous flowers and small, usually ovoid drupes. (noun)
• The fruit of such a plant. (noun)
• The soft yellowish wood of these trees or shrubs. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Small, brightly-colored fruits such as hackberry and boxthorn are offered as food for birds that swallow them whole."
• "Deep-rooted plants, such as hackberry, elm and green ash trees, may tap into groundwater and release more moisture into the air than is replaced by precipitation."
• "That was when I saw Benny Fritch, running behind a copse of barren hackberry trees."