pepper — English Dictionary

Noun

1. A plant of the family Piperaceae.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   This pepper plant needs a warm place.

2. A spice prepared from the fermented, dried, unripe berries of this plant.

   Usage

   • Uncountable

   Examples

   Add a little pepper to the soup.

3. A fruit of the capsicum plant: red, green, yellow or white, hollow and containing seeds, and in a wide range of mild (sweet, nonspicy) to hot (spicy) varieties.

   Usage

   • Canada
   • Ireland
   • UK usage
   • US usage
   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Synonyms

   capsicum

   Examples

   I sliced a red pepper for the salad.

4. A game used by baseball players to warm up where fielders standing close to a batter rapidly return the batted ball to be hit again

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   Some ballparks have signs saying "No pepper games".

5. A randomly-generated value that is added to another value (such as a password) prior to hashing. Unlike a salt, a new one is generated for each value and it is held separately from the value.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

6. A beating; a thrashing.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Slang
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   He means to snatch the laurels from his brow, / At all his boasted pluck and prowess smile, / And give him pepper in superior style.

   More examples (1)

   [T]he Chicken had been tapped, and bunged, and had received pepper, and had been made groggy, and had come up piping, and had endured a complication of similar strange inconveniences, until he had been gone into and finished.

7. A shotgun.

   Usage

   • Multicultural-London-English
   • Countable
   • Slang
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   Chew beef like breakfast (Yum) Two shanks, get 'round in seconds (Two) Be feeding my area, peppers

   Number plates already hot, and plus we've got like three peppers

Verb

1. To add pepper to.

   Usage

   • Transitive

2. To strike with something made up of small particles.

   Usage

   • Transitive

3. To cover with lots of (something made up of small things).

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   After the hailstorm, the beach was peppered with holes.

4. To add (something) at frequent intervals.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   He liked to pepper long words throughout his conversation.

5. To beat or thrash.

   Usage

   • Slang
   • Transitive

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   Rom. Courage man, the hurt cannot be much. Mer. No: 'tis not ſo deepe as a well, nor ſo wide as a Church doore, but 'tis inough, 'twill ſerue : aske for me to morrow, and you ſhall find me a graue man. I am pepper'd I warrant, for this world: a plague a both your houſes.

6. To use a pepper (type of value used prior to hashing).

7. To shoot (upon) with the dotty.

   Usage

   • Multicultural-London-English
   • Slang
   • Transitive

8. To write accents or disambiguating marks in script.

   Usage

   • Slang
   • Transitive

Noun

1. climber having dark red berries (peppercorns) when fully ripe; southern India and Sri Lanka; naturalized in northern Burma and Assam

   Synonyms

   common pepperblack pepperwhite pepperMadagascar pepperPiper nigrum

   Broader terms

   true pepperpepper vine

2. any of various tropical plants of the genus Capsicum bearing peppers

   Synonyms

   capsicumcapsicum pepper plant

   Broader terms

   shrubbush

3. pungent seasoning from the berry of the common pepper plant of East India; use whole or ground

   Synonyms

   peppercorn

   Broader terms

   flavorerflavourerflavoringflavouringseasonerseasoning

4. sweet and hot varieties of fruits of plants of the genus Capsicum

   Broader terms

   solanaceous vegetable

Verb

1. add pepper to

   Broader terms

   zestspicespice up

   Examples

   pepper the soup

2. attack and bombard with or as if with missiles

   Synonyms

   pelt

   Broader terms

   attackassail

   Examples

   pelt the speaker with questions