hau tree

[ hou-tree ]

noun
  1. a clambering tree, Hibiscus tileaceus, of tropical shores, having leathery, ovate leaves and yellow flowers that turn dark red as they fade, and yielding a fiber used as cordage.

Origin of hau tree

1
First recorded in 1840–45; from Hawaiian hau “hau tree” + tree
  • Also called mahoe, sea hi·bis·cus [seehahy-bis-kuhs, hi-] /ˈsi haɪˈbɪs kəs, hɪ-/ .

Words Nearby hau tree

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hau tree in a sentence

  • She remembered listening as he sang them over and over under the hau tree at Waikiki.

    The House of Pride | Jack London
  • The sign of the shallow sea kapu was the placing of branches of the hau tree all along the shore.

  • The doctor laughed at it heartily, as a joke on himself, and glanced at the musicians under the hau tree.

    The House of Pride | Jack London
  • Over this limb hung a stout rope braided of the fibrous bark of the hau tree.

    In the Track of the Trades | Lewis R. Freeman
  • The silent witness to these festivities of years ago, the great hau-tree, still stands.

    The Life of Mrs. Robert Louis Stevenson | Nellie van De Grift Sanchez