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

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

The names and moments stack up like cordwood, recognizable to anybody in a Chief Wahoo cap: Jose Mesa in 1995, Pedro Martinez in 1999, J.D.

From Washington Post • Oct. 12, 2017

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

Much is made of the talent that was stacked like cordwood on the Kentucky bench, including nine McDonald’s all-Americans.

From New York Times • Apr. 5, 2015

High dune grass hid the paths up to the houses—in fact, almost hid the chopping block one man was using to split his cordwood.

From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt