oak gall

American  

noun

1. any of various rounded galls produced on oaks, especially the horned oak gall.

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Etymology

Origin of oak gall

First recorded in 1760–70

Example Sentences

Then, puncturing the gall, it injects its eggs, beside or inside the young oak gall wasp.

From New York Times

To deposit its eggs, the parasitic oak gall wasp pierces a leaf or stem with its ovipositor, a long tubelike organ that would be a stinger if this wasp were the kind that stings.

From New York Times

To find out how many hosts this “hypermanipulator” has, researchers collected more than 23,000 galls containing more than 100 species of oak gall wasps—and some crypt keepers.

From Science Magazine

Without durable, waterproof oak gall ink — produced when wasps inject chemical irritants into trees — countless medieval and Renaissance manuscripts would have deteriorated into illegibility.

From New York Times

Recent chemical analyses, however, concluded that the oak gall ink and the mineral and botanical pigments are consistent with medieval recipes, and Carbon-14 analysis has dated the parchment to between 1404 and 1438.

From Washington Post