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buckeye

American  
[buhk-ahy] / ˈbʌkˌaɪ /

noun

  • buckeyes
    plural
  1. any of various trees or shrubs of the genus Aesculus, as A. glabra Ohio buckeye, having palmate leaves, gray, scaly bark, and bell-shaped greenish-yellow flowers in upright clusters: the state tree of Ohio.

  2. the brown nut of any of these trees.

  3. (initial capital letter) a native or inhabitant of Ohio (used as a nickname).

  4. a butterfly, Precis lavinia, having dark-brown wings with purple or red eyespots.


buckeye British  
/ ˈbʌkˌaɪ /

noun

  1. any of several North American trees of the genus Aesculus , esp A. glabra (Ohio buckeye), having erect clusters of white or red flowers and prickly fruits: family Hippocastanaceae See also horse chestnut

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of buckeye

An first recorded in 1755–65; buck 1 “stag” + eye, originally used to designate buckeye def. 1, in reference to the look of the seed


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.

See Examples For:

Sure, there was a California buckeye I adored at Descanso Gardens, but any place you had to pay to see a tree was out.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2024

“Look at that caterpillar,” Andrew J. Brand said one afternoon as we passed a hummocky old bottlebrush buckeye shrub in my garden.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 11, 2022

“How about ‘Dwayne Haskins, son, husband, buckeye brother, friend, beloved teammate has passed away,’” former Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones wrote on Twitter.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 9, 2022

As Doug Tallamy, founder of the Homegrown National Park, writes in his book, Nature's Best Hope, plantains provide food for the hitched arches moth, buckeye butterflies, and the giant leopard moth.

From Salon ● Mar. 11, 2022

Zooey is taller than Charlie, slender, with skin like a buckeye, and spacey brown eyes.

From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson

Boroditsky, a certified arborist, said the site still has lots of native trees, like buckeyes, walnut and oaks, that may have been trimmed to conform to clearance rules but that were not removed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2024

Or Cooper’s friend Frana Milan who makes Ohio-famous buckeyes each year.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 25, 2022

He had sensed, wrongly, that union trustbusting was as much in demand among the buckeyes as the badgers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 11, 2015

He’ll also throw in some buckeyes - the chocolate and peanut butter candies, not the poisonous nuts.

From Washington Times ● Jan. 8, 2015

Now there were long periods when he heard nothing except the wind in the trees and the plop of buckeyes on the earth.

From "Sula" by Toni Morrison

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