fruit of the union

1. A child or children resulting from the union between two people, such as a marriage or domestic union. Also written as "fruit of one's union." Why wouldn't you want to have children? They're the normal fruit of the union of marriage! When we started the divorce proceedings, the largest question was who would retain custody over the fruit of our union. I told my lawyer from the beginning that I want what's best for the fruit of our union—so, no fighting over them like they're trophies!

2. The offspring resulting from a sexual union between two mates. A "labradoodle," one of the cutest but silliest-named crossbreeds around, is the fruit of the union between a Labrador Retriever and a poodle. Do we really need the fruit of the union of a tulip and a hydrangea? How weird is that going to look? Frankie is a Chiweenie—the fruit of the union of a Chihuahua and a Dachshund.

3. The outcome, result, or product of an interaction or union between two or more bodies, elements, or forces. Water is merely the fruit of the union of two hydrogen atoms and a single oxygen atom. The treaty was ultimately the fruit of the union of two brilliant academics on either side of the war, who worked for months with each side's leaders to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. All the committee cares about is the fruit of the union. So if we don't make progress in the lab soon, they're going to slash our funding.