sugar maple

noun

1. any of several maples having a sweet sap, especially Acer saccharum (the state tree of New York, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin), having a short trunk and long, curving branches, yielding a hard wood used for making furniture and being the chief source of maple sugar.

sugar maple

noun

1. a North American maple tree, Acer saccharum, that is grown as a source of sugar, which is extracted from the sap, and for its hard wood

Other Word Forms

• sugar-maple adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sugar maple¹

An Americanism dating back to 1725–35

Example Sentences

Old growth forests of sugar maple, birch and hemlock towered over our tents, cushioned our trails with pine needles and scented our days.

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The key to the project is utilizing some underdog trees that are not in the same class as the sugar maples typical of Vermont.

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In the northern broadleaf forests of the U.S. and Canada, alien earthworms' impact on soil stresses trees such as sugar maples by altering the microhabitat of their soils.

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Additionally, short, cold days prompt some tree species, including red and sugar maples, to produce red anthocyanins.

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This nest, high in a sugar maple in the hospital’s courtyard, was massive—and looked like metal.

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