1. Any of various shrubby, usually prickly plants of the genus Rubus in the rose family, such as R. idaeus var. strigosus of eastern North America and R. idaeus of Europe, that bear edible fruit.
2. The aggregate fruit of any of these plants, consisting of many small, fleshy, usually red drupelets.
3. A moderate to dark or deep purplish red.
4. Slang. A derisive or contemptuous sound made by vibrating the extended tongue and the lips while exhaling.

[Obsolete raspis, raspberry + BERRY. Sense 4, possibly short for raspberry tart, rhyming slang for FART.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.