box elder

noun

1. a North American maple, Acer negundo, having light gray-brown bark, pinnate, coarsely toothed leaves, and dry, winged fruit, cultivated as a shade tree, and yielding a light, soft wood used in making furniture, woodenware, etc.

box elder

noun

1. a medium-sized fast-growing widely cultivated North American maple, Acer negundo , which has compound leaves with lobed leaflets Also calledash-leaved maple

Word History and Origins

Origin of box elder¹

An Americanism dating back to 1780–90

Example Sentences

Louder and fiercer roared the Box Elder, lashing its banks with foam.

From Project Gutenberg

We climbed the trees and cut our names, we sucked the sap of the box elder and squashed poke berries for war paint.

From Project Gutenberg

There are moisture and shade where the hospital stands, and a clump of box-elder trees is a boon to the convalescents there.

From Project Gutenberg

We marched twenty-five and three-quarter miles, and encamped near Box Elder Creek.

From Project Gutenberg

Fine timber cultures of black walnut, maple, box elder, and cottonwood.

From Project Gutenberg