ironwood

[ahy-ern-woo d]

noun

any of various trees yielding a hard, heavy wood, as the American hornbeam, Carpinus caroliniana, or Lyonothamnus floribundus, found on the islands off the coast of S California.

the wood of any of these trees.

Origin of ironwood

First recorded in 1650–60; iron + wood¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ironwood

Historical Examples of ironwood

Other names for the tree are algaroba, honey locust, honey pod, and ironwood.
American Forest Trees
Henry H. Gibson
It is known as ironwood, hop-hornbeam, leverwood, and hardhack.
American Forest Trees
Henry H. Gibson
It is also a Florida species and is known in some localities as ironwood.
American Forest Trees
Henry H. Gibson
The Ironwood of India cannot be worked, as its hardness blunts every tool.
The Romance of Plant Life
G. F. Scott Elliot
I begged of him as I never begged of my own father, but he was hard as the ironwood tree.
Romany of the Snows
Gilbert Parker

British Dictionary definitions for ironwood

ironwood

noun

any of various betulaceous trees, such as hornbeam, that have very hard wood

a Californian rosaceous tree, Lyonothamnus floribundus, with very hard wood

any of various other trees with hard wood, such as the mopani

the wood of any of these trees

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012