Obs. exc. dial.; also bery, bury. [ME. berien, bery, ad. ON. berja to strike, beat, thresh = OHG. berjan, MHG. berren, beren, bern; repr. in OE. only by pa. pple. ʓebered. Cogn. w. L. ferīre to strike.]
1. trans. To beat, thrash.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 188. Þer ȝe schulen iseon bunsen [v.r. berien] ham mit tes deofles bettles.
1808. Jamieson, Berry, to beat; as to berry a bairn, to beat a child.
2. To thresh (corn, etc.). See BERRIED ppl. a.
1483. Cath. Angl., 29. Bery … vbi to thresche.
1641. Best, Farm. Bks. (1856), 142. Thrashers that bury by quarter-tale.
1691. Ray, N. Country Wds., Berry, to thresh, i. e. to beat out the berry or grain of the corn.
1808. Jamieson, Berry, to thrash corn, Roxb., Dumfr.
3. To beat (a path, etc.). See BERRIED ppl. a.
