ironwood tree
1
8.0
- noun
:
árbol de hierro
- The children played in the shade of the majestic ironwood tree as its thick branches provided shelter from the sun.
Examples
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The carpenter praised the beautiful grain of the ironwood tree he used for crafting strong furniture.
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In one man's dream, he climbed up an ironwood tree and found, killed, and ate a small marsupial.
Academic text (1992) -
There is a magic plant you will see under the ironwood tree; you will see it, and it will grow.
Academic text (1992) -
I sat down on a stone bench beneath a flowering ironwood tree.
Fiction book (1993) -
In the park, we admired the sturdy ironwood tree known for its impressive height and hard wood.
Synonyms
1
8.1
A tree with very hard, heavy wood often used for furniture
How Hard
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is fully compositional: 'ironwood' names a tree species with very hard wood and adding 'tree' simply specifies the kind of plant. A learner who knows both constituents can directly infer it refers to a type of tree known for exceptionally hard wood, so the meaning is transparent.
Etymology
Ironwood tree is named for the clear image of iron and wood: people compared its very hard, heavy wood to 'iron'. That's why the name means a tree with very hard, long-lasting wood.