bole

¹ American  

[bohl] / boʊl /

noun

Botany.

1. the stem or trunk of a tree.

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bole ² American  

[bohl] / boʊl /

noun

1. any of a variety of soft, unctuous clays of various colors, used as pigments.

2. a medium red-brown color made from such clay.

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bole ¹ British  

/ bəʊl /

noun

1. a reddish soft variety of clay used as a pigment

2. a moderate reddish-brown colour

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bole ² British  

/ bəʊl /

noun

1. the trunk of a tree

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Etymology

Origin of bole¹

1275–1325; Middle English < Old Norse bolr trunk (of a tree), torso; bulwark

Origin of bole²

1350–1400; Middle English bol < Late Latin bōlus lump; bolus

Example Sentences

In a pleasant place, open yet sheltered by overhanging boughs, the hollow bole of a dead tree lay on the ground.

From Literature

NW96 is thought to predate 1580 because of a lead ingot cast from a furnace, known as a bole, which fell out of use around that time.

From BBC

With all of us dealing with a pandemic, chasing down the last bole of hand sanitizer and for some reason stocking up on toilet paper, you thought we forgot.

From Washington Times

At ground level, a full-sized tree would be ten feet through its bole, more than twenty feet around.

From Literature

It’s full of walls of bee boles, cobbles, and potting sheds: a beautiful monument to hard work, anonymous labor, and shattered innocence.

From The New Yorker

Related Words

• brick
• earth
• mud