Adjacent Words

bur oak definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: medium to large deciduous oak of central and eastern North America with ovoid acorns deeply immersed in large fringed cups; yields tough close-grained wood [syn: bur oak, burr oak, mossy-cup oak, mossycup oak, Quercus macrocarpa]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1815 a usually large oak (Quercus macrocarpa) of eastern North America having oval acorns enclosed in a fringed cap and tough close-grained wood

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Oak Oak ([=o]k), n. [OE. oke, ok, ak, AS. [=a]c; akin to D. eik, G. eiche, OHG. eih, Icel. eik, Sw. ek, Dan. eeg.] 1. (Bot.) Any tree or shrub of the genus Quercus. The oaks have alternate leaves, often variously lobed, and staminate flowers in catkins. The fruit is a smooth nut, called an acorn, which is more or less inclosed in a scaly involucre called the cup or cupule. There are now recognized about three hundred species, of which nearly fifty occur in the United States, the rest in Europe, Asia, and the other parts of North America, a very few barely reaching the northern parts of South America and Africa. Many of the oaks form forest trees of grand proportions and live many centuries. The wood is usually hard and tough, and provided with conspicuous medullary rays, forming the silver grain. 2. The strong wood or timber of the oak. Note: Among the true oaks in America are: Barren oak, or Black-jack, Q. nigra. Basket oak, Q. Michauxii. Black oak, Q. tinctoria; -- called also yellow or quercitron oak. Bur oak (see under Bur.), Q. macrocarpa; -- called also over-cup or mossy-cup oak. Chestnut oak, Q. Prinus and Q. densiflora. Chinquapin oak (see under Chinquapin), Q. prinoides. Coast live oak, Q. agrifolia, of California; -- also called enceno. Live oak (see under Live), Q. virens, the best of all for shipbuilding; also, Q. Chrysolepis, of California. Pin oak. Same as Swamp oak. Post oak, Q. obtusifolia. Red oak, Q. rubra. Scarlet oak, Q. coccinea. Scrub oak, Q. ilicifolia, Q. undulata, etc. Shingle oak, Q. imbricaria. Spanish oak, Q. falcata. Swamp Spanish oak, or Pin oak, Q. palustris. Swamp white oak, Q. bicolor. Water oak, Q. aguatica. Water white oak, Q. lyrata. Willow oak, Q. Phellos. Among the true oaks in Europe are: Bitter oak, or Turkey oak, Q. Cerris (see Cerris). Cork oak, Q. Suber. English white oak, Q. Robur. Evergreen oak, Holly oak, or Holm oak, Q. Ilex. Kermes oak, Q. coccifera. Nutgall oak, Q. infectoria. Note: Among plants called oak, but not of the genus Quercus, are: African oak, a valuable timber tree (Oldfieldia Africana). Australian, or She, oak, any tree of the genus Casuarina (see Casuarina). Indian oak, the teak tree (see Teak). Jerusalem oak. See under Jerusalem. New Zealand oak, a sapindaceous tree (Alectryon excelsum). Poison oak, the poison ivy. See under Poison.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bur Bur, Burr Burr, n. [OE. burre burdock; cf. Dan. borre, OSw. borra, burdock, thistle; perh. akin to E. bristle (burr- for burz-), or perh. to F. bourre hair, wool, stuff; also, according to Cotgrave, ``the downe, or hairie coat, wherewith divers herbes, fruits, and flowers, are covered,'' fr. L. burrae trifles, LL. reburrus rough.] 1. (Bot.) Any rough or prickly envelope of the seeds of plants, whether a pericarp, a persistent calyx, or an involucre, as of the chestnut and burdock. Also, any weed which bears burs. Amongst rude burs and thistles. --Milton. Bur and brake and brier. --Tennyson. 2. The thin ridge left by a tool in cutting or shaping metal. See Burr, n., 2. 3. A ring of iron on a lance or spear. See Burr, n., 4. 4. The lobe of the ear. See Burr, n., 5. 5. The sweetbread. 6. A clinker; a partially vitrified brick. 7. (Mech.) (a) A small circular saw. (b) A triangular chisel. (c) A drill with a serrated head larger than the shank; -- used by dentists. 8. [Cf. Gael. borr, borra, a knob, bunch.] (Zo["o]l.) The round knob of an antler next to a deer's head. [Commonly written burr.] Bur oak (Bot.), a useful and ornamental species of oak (Quercus macrocarpa) with ovoid acorns inclosed in deep cups imbricated with pointed scales. It grows in the Middle and Western United States, and its wood is tough, close-grained, and durable. Bur reed (Bot.), a plant of the genus Sparganium, having long ribbonlike leaves.