Adjacent Words

Beech definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BEECH, n. [Gr. payos; L. fagus.] A tree arranged by Linne under the genus fagus, with the chestnut. The beech grows to a large size, with branches forming a beautiful head, with thick foliage. The bark is smooth and of a silvery cast. The mast or nuts are the food of swine, and of certain wild animals, and yield a good oil for lamps. When eaten by man, they are said to occasion giddiness and headache.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: any of several large deciduous trees with rounded spreading crowns and smooth grey bark and small sweet edible triangular nuts enclosed in burs; north temperate regions [syn: beech, beech tree]
2: wood of any of various beech trees; used for flooring and containers and plywood and tool handles [syn: beech, beechwood]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural beeches or beech) Etymology: Middle English beche, from Old English b?ce; akin to Old English b?c beech, Old High German buohha, Latin fagus, Greek ph?gos oak Date: before 12th century any of a genus (Fagus of the family Fagaceae, the beech family) of hardwood trees with smooth gray bark and small edible nuts; also its wood • beechen adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 any large forest tree of the genus Fagus, having smooth grey bark and glossy leaves. 2 (also beechwood) its wood. 3 Austral. any of various similar trees in Australia. Phrases and idioms: beech-fern a fern, Thelypteris phagopteris, found in damp woods. beech-marten a white-breasted marten, Martes foina, of S. Europe and Asia. Derivatives: beechy adj. Etymology: OE bece f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Beech Beech, n.; pl. Beeches. [OE. beche, AS. b?ce; akin to D. beuk, OHG. buocha, G. buche, Icel. beyki, Dan. b["o]g, Sw. bok, Russ. buk, L. fagus, Gr. ? oak, ? to eat, Skr. bhaksh; the tree being named originally from the esculent fruit. See Book, and cf. 7th Buck, Buckwheat.] (Bot.) A tree of the genus Fagus. Note: It grows to a large size, having a smooth bark and thick foliage, and bears an edible triangular nut, of which swine are fond. The Fagus sylvatica is the European species, and the F. ferruginea that of America. Beech drops (Bot.), a parasitic plant which grows on the roots of beeches (Epiphegus Americana). Beech marten (Zo["o]l.), the stone marten of Europe (Mustela foina). Beech mast, the nuts of the beech, esp. as they lie under the trees, in autumn. Beech oil, oil expressed from the mast or nuts of the beech tree. Cooper beech, a variety of the European beech with copper-colored, shining leaves.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(beeches) A beech or a beech tree is a tree with a smooth grey trunk. ...the branch of a huge beech. N-VAR • Beech is the wood of this tree. The worktop is made of solid beech.