pepper

noun

• 1 [mass noun] a pungent hot-tasting powder prepared from dried and ground peppercorns, used as a spice or condiment to flavour food: season to taste with salt and pepper
• a reddish hot-tasting spice prepared from various forms of capsicum.

• 2a capsicum, especially a sweet pepper.

• 3a climbing vine with berries that are dried as black or white peppercorns.

  • Piper nigrum, family Piperaceae
• used in names of other plants which are related or similar to the pepper, e.g. Jamaica pepper, water pepper.

• 4 Baseball a practice game in which a fielder throws at close range to a batter who hits back to the fielder: he liked to play pepper

verb

• 1 (usually as adjective peppered) sprinkle or season (food) with pepper:peppered beef

• 2 (usually be peppered with) cover or fill with a liberal amount of scattered items:the script is peppered with four-letter words
• hit repeatedly with small missiles or gunshot:another burst of enemy bullets peppered his defenceless body
• archaic inflict severe punishment or suffering upon: if he finds out my haunts he swears he’ll pepper me