corkwood

American  

[kawrk-wood] / ˈkɔrkˌwʊd /

noun

1. a stout shrub or small tree, Leitneria floridana, having light green deciduous leaves, woolly catkins, and a drupaceous fruit.

2. any of certain trees and shrubs yielding a light and porous wood, as the balsa.

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corkwood British  

/ ˈkɔːkˌwʊd /

noun

1. a small tree, Leitneria floridana, of the southeastern US, having very lightweight porous wood: family Leitneriaceae

2. any other tree with light porous wood

3. the wood of any of these trees

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Etymology

Origin of corkwood

First recorded in 1750–60; cork + wood ¹

Example Sentences

It is about two inches in diameter, four-sided rather than round, with rough, corrugated, withered bark, in appearance similar to the corkwood bark used for rustic summer-houses in England.

From Life in an Indian Outpost by Casserly, Gordon

Then straightway what he had feared came to pass, and Webubu, and his flute, and the multitude of women fell crashing through the branches of the corkwood tree to the ground beneath.

From The Junior Classics — Volume 1 by Patten, William

North-Western Australia; to the verge of the tropics; Indian Archipelago; called in Australia the corkwood tree; valuable for various utilitarian purposes.

From Australia Twice Traversed, Illustrated, by Giles, Ernest

A few quandongs, or native peach trees, exist amongst these gullies; also a tree that I only know by the name of the corkwood tree.

From Australia Twice Traversed, Illustrated, by Giles, Ernest

Another road, little better than a bridle-path, runs northward to Ximena and through the corkwood forests of that plain towards the mountain ranges that rise between Ronda and the sea.

From In Kedar's Tents by Merriman, Henry Seton