opossum wood
- noun
- /əˈpɑsəm wʊd/
- US
:
madera de opossum
- The leaves of the opossum wood turn golden in autumn.
Examples
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Many birds nest in the branches of opossum wood trees.
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They planted an opossum wood in their backyard.
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Conservationists are working to protect the habitats of native opossum wood in Texas.
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The opossum wood tree is known for its durability.
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Many birds nest in the branches of opossum wood trees.
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The leaves of the opossum wood turn golden in autumn.
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Conservationists are working to protect the habitats of native opossum wood in Texas.
Synonyms
A medium-sized tree with white bell-shaped flowers in spring
A medium-sized tree that loses leaves in winter and has white bell-shaped flowers
A medium-sized tree that loses its leaves and has white bell-shaped flowers
A medium-sized tree with white, bell-shaped flowers that bloom in spring
A medium-sized tree from the south of the United States with showy white bell-shaped flowers
A medium-sized tree in dry southern and eastern United States woodlands with yellow-orange fruit tasting dry and bitter until ripe
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines a familiar animal name and 'wood', so learners might guess a relation to opossums or a wooded place, giving a partial clue. However, the specific meaning 'a medium-sized tree species' is not a direct or predictable result of composing 'opossum' + 'wood' and could be misunderstood without prior exposure to the plant name. This makes the expression partially but not fully transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Opossum wood may get its name from the animal opossum that often rested in the tree's branches or hid in its hollow trunk. People saw opossums there and started calling the plant opossum + wood, so the name came to mean a kind of 'tree' found in the southeastern United States.
