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Webster 1913 Edition


Hickory

Hick′o-ry

,
Noun.
[North American Indian
pawcohiccora
(Capt. J. Smith) a kind of milk or oily liquor pressed from pounded hickory nuts. “
Pohickory
” is named in a list of Virginia trees, in 1653, and this was finally shortened to “hickory.”
J. H. Trumbull.
]
(Bot.)
An American tree of the genus
Carya
, of which there are several species. The shagbark is the
Carya alba
, and has a very rough bark; it affords the hickory nut of the markets. The pignut, or brown hickory, is the
Carya glabra
. The swamp hickory is
Carya amara
, having a nut whose shell is very thin and the kernel bitter.
Hickory shad
.
(Zool.)
(a)
The mattowacca, or fall herring.
(b)
The gizzard shad.

Definition 2024


hickory

hickory

English

hickory tree at Morton Arboretum
Finished hickory wood in a cabinet

Alternative forms

Adjective

hickory (not comparable)

  1. Of or pertaining to the hickory tree or its wood.

Noun

hickory (plural hickories)

  1. Any of various deciduous hardwood trees of the genus Carya or Annamocarya.
  2. (uncountable) The wood of these trees.

Translations

Derived terms

References

  1. 1975, Nicholas Hook, History of the English language: Here are early spellings recorded in America: 1608 — pawcohiccora
    1618 — pockerchicory
    1634 — pokickery
    1653 — pohickery
    1671 — hickery
    1705 — hiccory
    1792 — hickory