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Glite Dictionary
number one wood

number one wood

7.7
A long golf club that you use to hit the ball far from the tee
  • noun
  • /ˈnʌmbər wʌn wʊd/
  • Jargon
translation icon : madera número uno
  • He reached for his number one wood to tee off at the championship.

Examples

  • Using a number one wood can significantly improve your distance on the golf course.

  • The driver, the number one wood.

    Tin Cup (1996)

  • Many golfers rely on a number one wood for their first shot on par four holes.

Synonyms

wood
vsnumber one wood
  • Jargon
46 6.8

A long golf club used to hit the ball far

is the specific version with near vertical face for maximum tee distance
driver
vsnumber one wood
20 5.8

A golf club with a large head used to hit the ball far from the tee

has a near vertical face used for longest tee shots
woodie
vsnumber one wood
  • Archaic
8.0

A golf club with a wooden head used for long shots

is the modern, non wooden form focused on hitting longest tee shots

How Far

number one wood
  • Jargon
7.7
woodie
  • Archaic
8.0
iron
52 4.8
wedge
  • Specialized
12 5.7
putter
12 4.1

Surface Forms

number one wood singular
number one woods plural

Morphology

number + one + wood

The meaning is directly compositional: 'number one' denotes the first or top-ranking item and 'wood' (in the golf sense) denotes a type of long-shafted club, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it refers to the first/primary wood (the driver). This follows a common numbering/nominal pattern in sports terminology, though transparency depends on knowing the golf-specific sense of 'wood' rather than the timber sense.

Etymology

Number one wood comes from old golf sets where the longest club was called the number one and the club head was made of wood. So, it names the longest club used for the biggest shots and today is often called the 'driver'.