quebracho

American  

[key-brah-choh, ke-brah-chaw] / keɪˈbrɑ tʃoʊ, kɛˈβrɑ tʃɔ /

noun

plural

quebrachos

1. any of several tropical American trees of the genus Schinopsis, having very hard wood, especially S. lorentzii, the wood and bark of which are important in tanning and dyeing.

2. a tree, Aspidosperma quebrachoblanco, of the dogbane family, yielding a medicinal bark.

3. the wood or bark of any of these trees.

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quebracho British  

/ keɪˈbrɑːtʃəʊ, keˈβratʃo /

noun

1. either of two anacardiaceous South American trees, Schinopsis lorentzii or S. balansae, having a tannin-rich hard wood used in tanning and dyeing

2. an apocynaceous South American tree, Aspidosperma quebrachoblanco, whose bark yields alkaloids used in medicine and tanning

3. the wood or bark of any of these trees

4. any of various other South American trees having hard wood

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Etymology

Origin of quebracho

First recorded in 1880–85; from South American Spanish, variant of quiebracha, quiebra-hacha literally, “(it) breaks (the) hatchet”; see quebrada, hatchet

Example Sentences

The delegation that went to Buenos Aires suggested lowering the tree-felling tax to cut costs so that quebracho users would buy for inventory, thereby absorbing some of the unemployed in the quebracho industry.

From Time Magazine Archive

In protest, he created his "literature of commitment" to call attention to poverty and death on banana plantations and in quebracho forests.

From Time Magazine Archive

Cattle had been slaughtered or driven away; production of quebracho extract, an export staple used in tanning, had dropped.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Paraguay rises in the sluggish swamps of the Mato Grosso, flows between heavy stands of quebracho trees through the heart of Paraguay, joins the Paran� where it enters Argentina.

From Time Magazine Archive

There is about fifteen per cent. of tannin in quebracho and at the tanneries it can be diluted, of course, to any strength desired.

From The Story of Leather by Bassett, Sara Ware