bur oak

American  

noun

1. an oak tree, Quercus macrocarpa, of eastern North America, having shiny, dark-green leaves, light-gray deeply ridged bark, and very large acorns with a fringed cup, yielding a hard, durable wood: the state tree of Illinois.

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bur oak British  

noun

1. an E North American oak, Quercus macrocarpa , having fringed acorn cups and durable timber

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Etymology

Origin of bur oak

An Americanism dating back to 1805–15

Example Sentences

Van Pelt repeated the method on 11 more trees, including bur oak, scarlet oak and the pecan.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 1, 2023

It may take an especially bold rodent to hoist a massive bur oak acorn, then stagger under its weight, vulnerable to predators, until finding a hiding spot.

From New York Times • Nov. 25, 2022

For my money, I’ll take the bur oak, the slowest-growing but the strongest of all; even its acorns are heavily armored, ready to do battle with the uninviting soil.

From Slate • Apr. 22, 2016

Standing in the shade of a roughly 200-year-old bur oak tree, Billy Ray Pemberton cups his hand and takes a drink of the cool spring water.

From Washington Times • Feb. 8, 2016

Just when things were looking really bad for Rowdy and me, from high in the bur oak tree, the big monkey let out a few grunts and a loud squall.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls