balsa
Americannoun
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balsas
plural
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a tropical American tree, Ochroma pyramidale (lagopus ), of the bombax family, yielding an exceedingly light wood used for life preservers, rafts, toy airplanes, etc.
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a raft made of balsa wood.
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any life raft.
noun
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a bombacaceous tree, Ochroma lagopus , of tropical America
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Also called: balsawood. the very light wood of this tree, used for making rafts, etc
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a light raft
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of balsa
1770–80; < Spanish: boat
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The plane they built in a hangar in the desert was propeller-driven and resembled a child’s balsa wood glider, but with wings longer than those of a Boeing 727.
From New York Times ● May 8, 2024
"All you can see of Chewie's feet are his toes. My dad carved them out of balsa wood as he is an engineer too," he said.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2024
Mindy, who takes to a balsa Hobie as easily as Carol once did, has bigger plans.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2023
The roomy interior was cooled by dry ice, with a single headlamp and a crush zone of balsa wood installed in front.
From Slate ● Aug. 2, 2022
“You know, balsa wood would be perfect for the seesaws—it’s really easy to cut. I think my dad might even have some.”
From "When You Reach Me" by Rebecca Stead
They were taking many of the same chances as their theoretical primitives: the raft was modeled after the balsas of the ancient Peruvians.
From Time Magazine Archive
According to Peruvian tradition, the Inca Tupac Yupanqui sailed a large fleet of balsas into the Pacific, about 1470 A.D.
From Time Magazine Archive
One of the more highly speculative of the Bolivian writers, Señor Posnansky, of La Paz, believes that gigantic balsas were used in bringing ten-ton monoliths across the lake to Tiahuanaco.
From Inca Land Explorations in the Highlands of Peru by Hiram Bingham
The launches could not come close inshore, so that every one and everything had to be transported to them on balsas.
From At the Point of the Sword by Herbert Hayens
He at once caused balsas, broad and clumsy barks, or rather rafts, of the country, to be provided, and by this means passed his men over, without opposition to the other side of the river.
From History of the Conquest of Peru; with a preliminary view of the civilization of the Incas by William Hickling Prescott
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
