corkwood

[ kawrk-wood ]

noun

1. a stout shrub or small tree, Leitneria floridana, having light green deciduous leaves, woolly catkins, and a drupaceous fruit.
2. any of certain trees and shrubs yielding a light and porous wood, as the balsa.

corkwood

/ ˈkɔːkˌwʊd /

noun

1. a small tree, Leitneria floridana, of the southeastern US, having very lightweight porous wood: family Leitneriaceae
2. any other tree with light porous wood
3. the wood of any of these trees

Word History and Origins

Origin of corkwood¹

First recorded in 1750–60; cork + wood ¹

Example Sentences

It is about two inches in diameter, four-sided rather than round, with rough, corrugated, withered bark, in appearance similar to the corkwood bark used for rustic summer-houses in England.

From Project Gutenberg

Taking up a corkwood plank, the sailor tied it across her breasts while the other man helped her stand up.

From Project Gutenberg

Everything bore a peculiar hue of green, from the groves of myrtle, pimento and corkwood to the grassy plots, the natural fields of oats and even to the moss-covered rocks of the spinelike mountains.

From Project Gutenberg

North-Western Australia; to the verge of the tropics; Indian Archipelago; called in Australia the corkwood tree; valuable for various utilitarian purposes.

From Project Gutenberg

Now Webubu was still playing his flute on the platform he had built in the corkwood tree, when the women came in sight.

From Project Gutenberg