hornbeam
[hawrn-beem]
- 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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Origin of hornbeam
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for hornbeam
Contemporary Examples
The maple trees in Westminster Abbey represent modesty and the hornbeam trees represent resilience.
Historical Examples
The beech might be used instead of the hornbeam on suitable soil.
The woods most used for cogs are hickory, maple, hornbeam and locust.
Is it not from the hornbeam that groweth within the garden of old husbands?
The Legend of UlenspiegelCharles de Coster
The hornbeam is almost restricted to Essex and Hertfordshire.
HertfordshireHerbert W Tompkins
It was full of long, straight walks, between hedges of yew and hornbeam, which rose tall and close on every side.
Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Volume I (of 10)John Gibson Lockhart
hornbeam
- any tree of the betulaceous genus Carpinus, such as C. betulus of Europe and Asia, having smooth grey bark and hard white wood
- the wood of any of these trees
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Brit equivalent: ironwood
Word Origin
C14: from horn + beam, referring to its tough wood
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for hornbeam
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper