A raspberry is a small, soft, red berry (though some varieties are black or golden) made up of many tiny connected parts called drupelets. Each little bump you see on a raspberry is actually a separate tiny fruit clustered together around a hollow core. When you pick a raspberry from its bush, the center stays behind, leaving you with a delicate, cup-shaped berry that's sweet and slightly tart.

Raspberries grow on prickly bushes in gardens and wild areas, ripening in summer. They're fragile and bruise easily, which is why they cost more at the grocery store than tougher fruits like apples. People eat them fresh, bake them into pies and muffins, or make them into jam. Wild raspberries taste even more intense than cultivated ones, and finding a patch of wild raspberry bushes on a hike can feel like discovering treasure.

The word also means a rude noise made by sticking out your tongue and blowing, creating a sputtering sound. This silly noise is sometimes called a Bronx cheer. When someone blows a raspberry at you, they're playfully (or rudely) showing disapproval or making fun of something. Picture a younger sibling responding to being told to clean their room by sticking out their tongue and going “Pbbbt!”