California laurel
Americannoun
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Also called bay tree. a tree, Umbellularia californica, of the laurel family, native to the western coast of the U.S., having aromatic leaves and umbels of yellowish-green flowers.
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the hard, golden-brown wood of this tree, used for making furniture and decorative objects.
Etymology
Origin of California laurel
An Americanism dating back to 1870–75
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.
Eagle Rock Brewery has made a new helles-style lager flavored with three California native plants: woolly bluecurls, California laurel and black sage.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 12, 2021
One of the most striking exhibits of the Muir Woods is its tangle of California laurel.
From The Book of the National Parks by Yard, Robert Sterling
Tests of California laurel wood by compression, indentation, shearing, transverse tension, pp. 223-236.
From The Mechanical Properties of Wood Including a Discussion of the Factors Affecting the Mechanical Properties, and Methods of Timber Testing by Record, Samuel J.
The California laurel is shaking out a delicious, penetrating odor from its countless blossoms.
From The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits by Parsons, Mary Elizabeth
The mansanilla, the branches of which are like red coral, and the leaves the lightest of greens, the California laurel, and many others of which I do not know the names, were too beautiful.
From The Sunny Side of Diplomatic Life, 1875-1912 by Hegermann-Lindencrone, L. de (Lillie de)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
