dogwood
pronunciation
How to pronounce dogwood in British English:
UK [ˈdɒgwʊd]
How to pronounce dogwood in American English:
US [ˈdɔgwʊd]
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- Noun:
- a tree of shrub of the genus Cornus often having showy bracts resembling flowers
- hard tough wood of any dogwood of the genus Cornus; resemble boxwood
Word Origin
- dogwood (n.)
- shrubs and small trees of the genus Cornus, 1610s, earlier dog-tree (1540s); the first element sometimes said to have been perhaps dag -- compare dagger, dag (v.) "to pierce or stab" (1630s, perhaps 15c.) -- the trees have hard, white wood that was used in making skewers; another name for it was skewer-wood. But another guess is that the tree was given the name in reference to its fruit, which was called dogberry from 1550s, and dog had implications of "cheap, inferior" (i.e. "fit for a dog").
Example
- 1. In depraved may , dogwood and chestnut , flowering judas .
- 2. The grassy prairie landscape is dotted with shrub thickets of sumac and dogwood , which are favored by birds and small animals .
- 3. Should choose the medicaments of kidney of clear heart grow , resemble meat of dogwood of virgin soil , root of herbaceous peony , hill .
- 4. Did she ask about the dogwood charm ?
- 5. Deciduous treestylesuch as maple , oak , elm , dogwood , apple , etc.