red beech
1
8.2
- noun
- /rɛd biːtʃ/
- US
- The red beech is prized for its attractive foliage and delicious nuts.
Examples
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Many animals depend on the nuts of the red beech for food in the fall.
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We hiked through a forest dominated by towering red beeches and maples.
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The red beech tree produces delicious nuts.
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Many red beeches can be found in the forest.
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Many animals depend on the nuts of the red beech for food in the fall.
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The red beech is prized for its attractive foliage and delicious nuts.
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We hiked through a forest dominated by towering red beeches and maples.
Synonyms
5
4.3
A large tree with smooth grey bark and small nuts you can eat
2
3.0
A large tree with smooth grey bark and small nuts inside a prickly cover
1
4.9
A North American tree that loses its leaves in autumn, with smooth gray bark and edible nuts
1
7.4
A North American forest tree with light green leaves and edible nuts
A North American tree with light green leaves and nuts you can eat
A beech tree from eastern North America with smooth bark and nuts people and animals eat
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a straightforward adjective + noun composition: a B1 learner who knows 'red' and 'beech' will infer it denotes a type of beech tree characterized by something red (e.g., red-tinted bark or foliage). Such adjective-noun naming of species is compositional and cross-linguistically common, so the overall meaning is predictable from the parts.
Etymology
Red beech may be named because the tree's bark or young leaves sometimes look a little red, so people used red to tell this beech apart from other beeches and to remember which trees gave 'edible nuts'.