loblolly

[ lob-lol-ee ]

noun

, plural lob·lol·lies.

1. South Midland and Southern U.S. a mire; mudhole.
2. a thick gruel.

loblolly

/ ˈlɒbˌlɒlɪ /

noun

1. a southern US pine tree, Pinus taeda, with bright red-brown bark, green needle-like leaves, and reddish-brown cones
2. nautical a thick gruel
3. dialect.
   a mire; mudhole

Word History and Origins

Origin of loblolly¹

1590–1600; compare dial. (Yorkshire) lob (of porridge) to bubble while boiling; second element, as in lobscouse, is obscure

Word History and Origins

Origin of loblolly¹

C16: perhaps from dialect lob to boil + obsolete dialect lolly thick soup

Example Sentences

Timber production shifted to the uniform loblolly pine plantations of Georgia, Alabama and the Carolinas.

From New York Times

At the edge of a thicket of loblolly pines, they stepped over a concrete slab decorated with a mural of a police car, overturned and aflame.

From Los Angeles Times

Probably a Pinus taeda, or loblolly pine, a slender conifer native to the Southeastern United States.

From New York Times

Vestiges of a past or harbingers of the future, the skeletons of once mighty oaks and elegant loblolly pines defy efforts to wholly preserve Tubman’s memory on these lands.

From New York Times

A loblolly pine in the Southeast and a ponderosa pine in the West grow at vastly different rates, complicating efforts to define maturity as a set number of years across multiple species.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• gruel
• oatmeal
• polenta