pepper

/ˈpɛpər/

/ˈpɛpə/

Other forms: peppers; peppered; peppering

The black spice you sprinkle on your food to make it taste more flavorful? That's pepper. If your soup is a little bland, try adding some salt and pepper.

Pepper starts out as a tiny fruit called a peppercorn. Once harvested and dried, these are ground into a powder and become what we think of as pepper. Other kinds of pepper include white pepper, which is a variation on black pepper, and the vegetables known as peppers, including sweet bell peppers and spicy jalapeño peppers. As a verb, pepper means "fill with scattered items," like the way you might pepper your essay with sophisticated vocabulary words to impress your teacher.

Definitions of pepper

1. noun

   climber having dark red berries (peppercorns) when fully ripe; southern India and Sri Lanka; naturalized in northern Burma and Assam
   synonyms: Madagascar pepper, Piper nigrum, black pepper, common pepper, white pepper

   type of:

   pepper vine, true pepper

   any of various shrubby vines of the genus Piper
2. noun

   any of various tropical plants of the genus Capsicum bearing peppers
   synonyms: capsicum, capsicum pepper plant

   types:

   Capsicum annuum conoides, cone pepper

   plant bearing erect pungent conical red or yellow or purple fruits; sometimes grown as an ornamental

   Capsicum annuum longum, cayenne, cayenne pepper, chili pepper, chilli pepper, jalapeno, long pepper

   plant bearing very hot and finely tapering long peppers; usually red

   Capsicum annuum grossum, bell pepper, paprika, pimento, pimiento, sweet pepper, sweet pepper plant

   a plant bearing sweet, mild red peppers often used in garnishes and for making paprika

   Capsicum annuum cerasiforme, cherry pepper

   plant bearing small rounded usually pungent fruits

   Capsicum baccatum, Capsicum frutescens baccatum, bird pepper

   plant bearing very small and very hot oblong red fruits; includes wild forms native to tropical America; thought to be ancestral to the sweet pepper and many hot peppers

   Capsicum frutescens, hot pepper, tabasco pepper, tabasco plant

   plant bearing very hot medium-sized oblong red peppers; grown principally in the Gulf Coast states for production of hot sauce

   type of:

   bush, shrub

   a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems
3. noun

   sweet and hot varieties of fruits of plants of the genus Capsicum
   types:

   sweet pepper

   large mild crisp thick-walled capsicum peppers usually bell-shaped or somewhat oblong; commonly used in salads

   hot pepper

   any of various pungent capsicum fruits

   bell pepper

   large bell-shaped sweet pepper in green or red or yellow or orange or black varieties

   green pepper

   a sweet pepper that becomes red when ripe

   globe pepper

   round sweet pepper

   pimento, pimiento

   a type of sweet, mild red pepper often used in garnishes or dried and ground to make paprika

   chile, chili, chili pepper, chilli, chilly

   a very spicy pepper used in cooking that adds heat and strong flavor

   red pepper, tabasco

   very hot red peppers; usually long and thin; some very small

   type of:

   solanaceous vegetable

   any of several fruits of plants of the family Solanaceae; especially of the genera Solanum, Capsicum, and Lycopersicon
4. noun

   pungent seasoning from the berry of the common pepper plant of East India; use whole or ground
   synonyms: peppercorn

   types:

   black pepper

   pepper that is ground from whole peppercorns with husks on

   white pepper

   pepper ground from husked peppercorns

   type of:

   flavorer, flavoring, flavourer, flavouring, seasoner, seasoning

   something added to food primarily for the savor it imparts
5. verb

   add pepper to
   “pepper the soup”

   type of:

   spice, spice up, zest

   add herbs or spices to
6. verb

   attack and bombard with or as if with missiles
   synonyms: pelt

   type of:

   assail, attack

   launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with