woody

[woo d-ee]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR woody ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, wood·i·er, wood·i·est.

abounding with wood; wooded.

belonging or pertaining to the woods; sylvan.

consisting of or containing wood; ligneous.

resembling wood, as in appearance, texture, or toughness: a woody vegetable.

Origin of woody

Middle English word dating back to 1325–75; see origin at wood¹, -y¹

Related formswood·i·ness, noun

woody

or wood·ie

[woo d-ee]

noun, plural wood·ies. Slang.

a station wagon having wood or simulated-wood panels on the outside of the body.

Origin of woody

First recorded in 1960–65; wood¹ + -y²

woody

[wuhd-ee, woo-dee]Chiefly Scot.

noun, plural wood·ies, adjective, wood·i·er, wood·i·est.

widdy¹.

Woody

[woo d-ee]

noun

a male given name, form of Woodrow.

Guthrie

[guhth-ree]

noun

A(lfred) B(ertram), Jr.,1901–91, U.S. novelist.

Sir (William) Tyrone,1900–71, English stage director and producer.

Woodrow WilsonWoody, 1912–67, U.S. folk singer.

a city in central Oklahoma: the former state capital.

a male given name.

Herman

[hur-muh n]

noun

WoodrowWoody, 1913–1987, U.S. jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and bandleader.

a male given name: from Old English words meaning “army” and “ man.”

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for woody

sylvan, wooded, wooden, arboraceous, ligneous, xyloid

Examples from the Web for woody

Contemporary Examples of woody

So with Woody, his first 3-5 films will be your favorites, or your first 3-5 Sam Shepard plays will be your favorites.
Coffee Talk with Ethan Hawke: On ‘Boyhood,’ Jennifer Lawrence, and Bill Clinton’s Urinal Exchange
Marlow Stern
December 27, 2014
I would have never predicted when I saw Cheers that Woody Harrelson was going to be one of the great actors of this generation.
Coffee Talk with Ethan Hawke: On ‘Boyhood,’ Jennifer Lawrence, and Bill Clinton’s Urinal Exchange
Marlow Stern
December 27, 2014
Wally said, “One day, Woody Allen will pass, and people will wonder if he really lived.”
Coffee Talk with Ethan Hawke: On ‘Boyhood,’ Jennifer Lawrence, and Bill Clinton’s Urinal Exchange
Marlow Stern
December 27, 2014
Woody Allen once remarked that 80 or 90 % of life was just showing up.
Why We Should Delay The Israel-Palestinian Peace Process
Aaron David Miller
December 19, 2014
But Willie Watson is a throwback to the days of Woody Guthrie and early Bob Dylan.
The Best Albums of 2014
Ted Gioia
December 13, 2014

Historical Examples of woody

They passed over the Blue Ridge where it breaks south into woody hills.
The Trail Book
Mary Austin
Some species are very large, some are small, some fleshy, and some are corky or woody.
The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise
M. E. Hard
Plants are perpetuated by seeds, by bulbs, and by woody parts.
Boy Scouts Handbook
Boy Scouts of America
Dendrophilous: species that live in woody tissue, or on trees.
Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology
John. B. Smith
There was only in sight a woody hill, and below it a stream to cross.
The Life, Public Services and Select Speeches of Rutherford B. Hayes
James Quay Howard

British Dictionary definitions for woody

woody

adjective woodier or woodiest

abounding in or covered with forest or woods

connected with, belonging to, or situated in a wood

consisting of or containing wood or ligninwoody tissue; woody stems

resembling wood in hardness or texture

Derived Formswoodiness, noun

Guthrie

noun

Samuel. 1782–1848, US chemist: invented percussion priming powder and a punch lock for exploding it, and discovered chloroform (1831)

Sir (William) Tyrone . 1900–71, English theatrical director

Woody, full name Woodrow Wilson Guthrie. 1912–67, US folk singer and songwriter. His songs include "So Long, it's been Good to Know you" (1940) and "This Land is your Land" (1944)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for woody

adj.

late 14c., "overgrown with trees and shrubs," from wood (n.) + -y (2). Of plants, "having a stem of wood," from 1570s. As a name for a kind of station wagon with wood panels, by 1961, U.S. surfer slang (real wood exterior panels were rare after 1951 and the last use of real wood was in the 1953 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon). Slang meaning "erection" attested by 1990 (for hardness).

Herman

masc. proper name, from German Hermann, from Old High German Hariman, literally "man of war, warrior," from hari "host, army" (see harry (v.)) + man "man" (see man (n.)).

woody in Science

wood

[wud]

The thick xylem of trees and shrubs, resulting from secondary growth by the vascular cambium, which produces new layers of living xylem. The accumulated living xylem is the sapwood. The older, dead xylem in the interior of the tree forms the heartwood. Often each cycle of growth of new wood is evident as a growth ring. The main components of wood are cellulose and lignin.

Related formswoody adjective