noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A North American deciduous shrubby tree, of the genus Oxydendrum, having deep fissures in its bark, and sour-tasting leaves.

   "I let him chew the tip of a burgundy leaf and taste how sourwood got its name."

2. 2
   deciduous shrubby tree of eastern North America having deeply fissured bark and sprays of small fragrant white flowers and sour-tasting leaves wordnet
3. 3
   An Australian tree, of the genus Hibiscus; the sorrel tree.

Synonyms

All synonyms

oxydendrum arboreumsorrel treesorrel treetiti

Example

More examples

"I let him chew the tip of a burgundy leaf and taste how sourwood got its name."

Etymology

From sour + wood.

Related phrases

north american

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.