breakax

9.9

A large tree from the Caribbean with very hard wood

noun

: breakax

The carpenter valued the breakax for its incredibly durable timber.

Examples

Legends say the wood of the breakax can dull even the sharpest tool.
Many furniture makers prefer breakax wood for its strength.
This dense forest contains several rare breakax trees.
The breakax tree is known for its durability.
The carpenter valued the breakax for its incredibly durable timber.
This dense forest contains several rare breakax trees.
Many furniture makers prefer breakax wood for its strength.

Synonyms

break-axe

vsbreakax

9.9

A tree from the West Indies with very hard wood used for building

is slightly less extreme and calls the wood exceptionally hard

breakaxe

vsbreakax

9.9

A tall West Indian tree with very hard wood used to make strong, long-lasting tools and furniture

is stronger in degree and calls the wood exceptionally hard

Sloanea jamaicensis

vsbreakax

Specialized

9.9

A Caribbean tree whose very hard wood people use for building

is the general term for similar trees rather than a single named species

Surface Forms

breakax singular

breakaxes plural

Morphology

breakax = break + ax (transparent) = break + ax

The compound 'break' + 'ax' yields the interpretable sense 'wood that would break an ax' and is directly inferable from its parts.

Etymology

Breakax likely comes from West Indian English and joins break and ax, a helpful image being 'break an axe' because the tree's wood is so hard it could dull or even break tools. That's why breakax means a very hard timber tree.