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black oak

black oak

1 4.1
A large tree from eastern North America with dark bark and leaves that have five points
  • noun
  • /blæk oʊk/
  • US
translation icon : roble negro
  • Grandma One Rock was not much bigger than Jimmy was then at age seven, but in her silence sometimes she seemed as strong and ancient and as difficult to ask for help as the giant black oak down by Old Peter's burned-out cabin.
  • black oak tree

Examples

  • And she got up from her bed on the floor of the cabin and went alone to the creek to bury the False Face under a root of a black oak.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • As the last firesnake entered the open pit of the fireplace, the roaring became deafening until it exploded in a huge, crackling fireball above the chimney and up into the branches of the black oak.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • But the other thing she told him was that Old Peter should never have built his house down there under that black oak.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • This is black oak acorns ...

  • And when he stepped out of the cottonwood grove and saw his brothers Chuckie and Roy and the six Old Ones dancing in a circle around two small fires under the black oak, he wasn't even surprised.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Before the tortoiseshell butterfly was carved in the black oak, Benny Helmer and Severin Hansen had drunk many cases of beer in the workshop.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • As I look down into the coulee, I find it changing as the midday starkness of black oaks against white snow has softened in the late afternoon light into hues of blue, purple, and pink.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • Concerns have been raised, however, because one of the coastal trees affected—the black oak—is common at the middle and higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada, where Yosemite National Park is located.

    Academic text (2000)
  • The black oak stands majestically in the forest, its broad leaves providing ample shade.

  • In the fall, the black oak's leaves turn vibrant shades of red and orange, creating a stunning display.

Synonyms

Quercus velutina
vsblack oak
  • Specialized
9.9

A large tree from eastern North America with dark outer bark and yellow inner bark called black oak

is the common English name rather than the Latin term
yellow oak
vsblack oak
  • US
6.0

A medium to large tree that loses its leaves, with yellow inner bark used to make leather

is the more widely used common name rather than this regional variant
quercitron oak
vsblack oak
  • Archaic
9.3

A large tree from eastern North America that has yellow inner bark used to make dye and tan leather

focuses on bark and leaf features rather than industrial use
quercitron
vsblack oak
  • Archaic
9.9

A medium to large tree from eastern America that loses its leaves and has yellow inner bark used for dyeing

is the species name emphasizing physical description over product use

How Big

big tree
  • Specialized
3 3.5
oak
126 1.0
black oak
  • US
1 4.1
sapling
16 2.7

Surface Forms

black oak singular
black oaks plural

Morphology

black + oak

The phrase denotes an oak tree characterized by dark (black) bark, so its meaning is directly derivable from combining the adjective 'black' with the noun 'oak'. This simple adjective + noun composition is a regular, cross-linguistically common pattern and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

Black oak comes from the tree's dark outer bark and the yellow inner bark people used for 'tanning' leather. So black oak simply names that kind of oak with dark bark.