cordwood

American  

[kawrd-wood] / ˈkɔrdˌwʊd /

noun

1. wood stacked in cords for use as fuel.

2. logs cut to a length of 4 feet (1.2 meters) to facilitate stacking in cords.

3. trees intended for timber but of a quality suitable only for fuel.

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cordwood British  

/ ˈkɔːdˌwʊd /

noun

1. wood that has been cut into lengths of four feet so that it can be stacked in cords

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Etymology

Origin of cordwood

First recorded in 1630–40; cord + wood ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cordwood

It feels good to see those big Chinook, stacked in the windows like cordwood, Mahovlich said.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 18, 2023

After loggers felled the large trees, smaller ones became fuel for locomotives, and the eastern slopes of the Sierra are so dry that there are still stacks of cordwood left over from the eighteen-eighties.

From The New Yorker ● Aug. 19, 2019

I saw the entire rear section of the plane filled with skinned, frozen—but now thawing—whole caribou, piled up like cordwood.

From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2015

If you can manage the labor yourself, and shop for supplies in the Dumpster, a new cordwood home can be built for just $20 a square foot, he said.

From New York Times ● Jul. 19, 2012

Ishmael saw where she had worked with the wheelbarrow at bringing cordwood from the shed to the kitchen door; there were splinters around the wood block where she’d cut kindling.

From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson