any shrub or small tree belonging to the genus Corylus, of the birch family, having toothed, ovate leaves and bearing edible nuts, as C. avellana, of Europe, or C. americana and C. cornuta, of the Western Hemisphere.
any of several other shrubs or trees, as an Australian shrub, Pomaderris apetala.
the wood of any of these trees.
the hazelnut or filbert.
light golden brown, as the color of a hazelnut.
of or relating to the hazel.
made of the wood of the hazel.
having a light golden-brown color.
Also called: cob. any of several shrubs of the N temperate genus Corylus, esp C. avellana, having oval serrated leaves and edible rounded brown nuts: family Corylaceae
the wood of any of these trees
short for hazelnut
a light yellowish-brown colour
( as adjective )
hazel eyes
What color are hazel eyes? Opinions vary on what, exactly, constitutes hazel eyes. Some consider them to be any shade with light brown or gold tones; others think they are a variation of brown eyes, only with more green or gold in the iris.
before 900; Middle English hasel; Old English hæs ( e ) l; cognate with German Hasel, Old Norse hasl, Latin corylus hazel shrub
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Authorities said that Coughran — who they described as a 6-foot-2, 150-pound white man with brown hair and hazel eyes — may have been wearing khaki shorts.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026
Their findings show that temperate woodland species, including oak, elm, and hazel, were present much earlier than suggested by pollen records from Britain.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 17, 2026
The missile, named after the Russian word for hazel tree, was first fired on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro in 2024.
From Barron's ● Jan. 9, 2026
Professor Paul Thomas, an expert in fungus cultivation at the University of Stirling, planted a small row of hazel trees in 2020 in his garden at Ascog on Bute.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2025
She looked at him fiercely, almost a glare, and Moody saw that her eyes, which he’d thought were hazel, were a deep jade green.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
The property, known as Hazel Green Ranch, is an undeveloped parcel of meadowland.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
In Beatles scholar Kevin Howlett’s detailed account of the making of the album, presented here in a tastefully illustrated 88-page hardback book, one of the unsung heroes of the record is Hazel Yarwood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
BBC Panorama reporter Hazel Martin also found that criminals are using fake IDs to get rental agreements.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
In Ashton-in-Makerfield, 61-year-old Hazel Ellis told AFP she planned to vote for Reform.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
Hazel hadn’t felt anything like it since the cave in Alaska where Gaea had forced her to resurrect Porphyrion the giant king.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
When placing plants in the quiet-season garden, Fox recommends planting dark-flowered witch hazels where the winter sun will shine through their blossoms, and placing light-colored flowers against an evergreen backdrop.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 20, 2021
In theory, the warmer, shorter winter opens up new possibilities for the garden, allowing landscapes to become alive with such things as the misnamed autumn-flowering cherry tree, witch hazels, camellias, Japanese flowering apricot and snowdrops.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 1, 2021
Elsewhere, the hybrid witch hazels are just starting.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 5, 2021
TUE Ray Larson, Curator of Living Collections, on witch hazels, 7:30 p.m.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 15, 2014
As quickly as they could they scrambled off the beaten way and up into the deep heather and bilberry brushwood on the slopes above, until they came to a small patch of thick-growing hazels.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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.
