sweet bay

American  

noun

1. laurel.

2. an American magnolia, Magnolia virginiana, having large oblong leaves and fragrant, white flowers, common on the Atlantic coast.

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sweet bay British  

noun

1. Sometimes shortened to: bay.  a small tree, Magnolia virginiana, of SE North America, having large fragrant white flowers: family Magnoliaceae (magnolias)

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Etymology

Origin of sweet bay

First recorded in 1710–20

Example Sentences

A flatbed trailer was loaded with scores of potted native trees: Shumard oak, yellow poplar, persimmon, Eastern red cedar, sweet bay magnolia.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 26, 2021

Dick perked up a good deal during his supper of broiled fish, palmetto cabbage and tamarind water, after which Ned made him a tin of tea from the leaves of the sweet bay.

From Dick in the Everglades by Dimock, A. W.

The salt sea-wind whistled and curled through the crested waves, blowing in perfumed puffs across thickets of sweet bay and cedar.

From In Search of the Unknown by Chambers, Robert W. (Robert William)

Poison oak, sweet bay trees, calcanthus, brush, and chaparral, grew freely but sparsely all about it.

From The Silverado Squatters by Stevenson, Robert Louis

But more lovely than any of the shrubs along the river was that small tree known as the sweet bay or the swamp laurel.

From Days Off And Other Digressions by Van Dyke, Henry