balsa
Americannoun
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a tropical American tree, Ochroma pyramidale (lagopus ), of the bombax family, yielding an exceedingly light wood used for life preservers, rafts, toy airplanes, etc.
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a raft made of balsa wood.
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any life raft.
noun
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a bombacaceous tree, Ochroma lagopus , of tropical America
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Also called: balsawood. the very light wood of this tree, used for making rafts, etc
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a light raft
Etymology
Origin of balsa
1770–80; < Spanish: boat
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"All you can see of Chewie's feet are his toes. My dad carved them out of balsa wood as he is an engineer too," he said.
From BBC
Jordan’s response: "If he did that to me, I'd snap his neck like a twig of dried balsa wood."
From Salon
Mike Flusche, a fellow wrestler around the same time, said he remembers hearing Jordan’s “balsa wood” comment.
From Los Angeles Times
“Going through my brain were suitable expletives. I hit the brakes, by which time it was too late, it was like balsa wood flying absolutely everywhere.”
From New York Times
He laid out the physics hurdles of such an epic voyage and even crafted a prototype spacecraft from poster board, balsa wood, and Elmer’s glue.
From Science Magazine
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
