koa

American  

[koh-uh] / ˈkoʊ ə /

noun

1. a Hawaiian acacia, Acacia koa, of the legume family, characterized by spreading branches and gray bark.

2. the hard, red or golden-brown wood of this tree, used for making furniture.

---

koa British  

/ ˈkəʊə /

noun

1. a Hawaiian leguminous tree, Acacia koa, yielding a hard wood

2. the reddish wood of this tree, used esp for furniture

---

Etymology

Origin of koa

Borrowed into English from Hawaiian around 1840–50

Example Sentences

They planted sandalwood and koa trees, and they tended to them so they could survive and thrive.

From Literature

“If I like focus on one plant, then I just breathe, smell the flowers, the stalk. Maybe I hold one leaf, as if it one hand. Relax. Think, what is this one trying for tell me? When I went working for restore that koa grove on Big Island, the whole world open up sometimes. I hold one sapling and I see it as one seed, then one full-grown tree. All the possibility.”

From Literature

I imagine sandalwood and koa trees blanketing the slope.

From Literature

“Uncle Koa texted. Tūtū is already out of ER and in her own room. We can visit.”

From Literature

Uncle Koa moving on without her?

From Literature