hornbeam

American  

[hawrn-beem] / ˈhɔrnˌbim /

noun

1. any North American shrub or tree belonging to the genus Carpinus, of the birch family, yielding a hard, heavy wood, as C. caroliniana American hornbeam.

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hornbeam British  

/ ˈhɔːnˌbiːm /

noun

1. any tree of the betulaceous genus Carpinus, such as C. betulus of Europe and Asia, having smooth grey bark and hard white wood

2. the wood of any of these trees

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Etymology

Origin of hornbeam

First recorded in 1570–80; horn + beam

Example Sentences

But there was rapid, smooth healing in such trees as hornbeam and Southern magnolia.

From Washington Post • Aug. 3, 2021

Hardman wanders through the wood and finds a small hornbeam, which is twisting up towards the light, struggling to make its way in the shade of a mature oak.

From The Guardian • Mar. 14, 2020

Later, I consider the European hornbeam tree before me, whose bare branches jut out conically, and an Asian dogwood tree, whose bark reddens in the winter.

From New York Times • Jan. 2, 2018

A rectangle of hornbeam hedge circumscribes the area, its shape echoed by the central pergola.

From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 22, 2016

She padded across the road and toward the bushes just beyond the hornbeam trees, and there she stopped.

From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman