balsa
noun
a tropical American tree, Ochroma pyramidale (lagopus ), of the bombax family, yielding an exceedingly light wood used for life preservers, rafts, toy airplanes, etc.
balsas
-
pluralof balsa.plural
The grammatical form denoting more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
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.
According to Peruvian tradition, the Inca Tupac Yupanqui sailed a large fleet of balsas into the Pacific, about 1470 A.D.
From Time Magazine Archive
They were taking many of the same chances as their theoretical primitives: the raft was modeled after the balsas of the ancient Peruvians.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Indians, however, going in and out among the lanes and rushes, baffled their oppressors, cutting off several Spanish balsas.
From The Western World Picturesque Sketches of Nature and Natural History in North and South America by William Henry Giles Kingston
He at once caused balsas, broad and clumsy barks, or rather rafts, of the country, to be provided, and by this means passed his men over, without opposition, to the other side of the river.
From History of the Conquest of Peru by William Hickling Prescott
Moreover, besides the oars, they rigged a square cotton sail upon the balsas which enabled them to run before the wind without labour, steering the craft by means of a paddle at the stern.
From The Virgin of the Sun by Henry Rider Haggard
