Beech
any tree of the genus Fagus, of temperate regions, having a smooth gray bark and bearing small, edible, triangular nuts.
Also called beechwood. the wood of such a tree.
any member of the plant family Fagaceae, characterized by trees and shrubs having alternate, usually toothed or lobed leaves, male flowers in catkins and female flowers either solitary or in clusters and bearing a nut enclosed in a cupule or bur, including the beeches, chestnuts, and oaks.
Contemporary Examples
Somewhere over the rainbow—specifically atop beech Mountain in western North Carolina—a yellow brick road leads straight to Oz.
Follow the Yellow Brick Road…to North Carolina Nina Strochlic February 11, 2014
Historical Examples
I have known them to nest on hemlock mast alone in Pennsylvania, and in Michigan on the pine mast after the beech mast was gone.
The Passenger Pigeon Various
And somehow they got the notion that the beech tree belonged to them—and to nobody else.
The Tale of Grunty Pig Arthur Scott Bailey
For three years we made whisky in a cave on the bank of the beech Fork, about six miles from here.
The Cave by the Beech Fork Henry S. Spalding
I might have supposed he was in love with my beech; yet he has not asked my permission to marry it.
Samuel Brohl & Company Victor Cherbuliez
Most lovely was the drive for miles through Ashburnham beech and pine woods and by its old timber-yard.
The Story of My Life, volumes 4-6 Augustus J. C. Hare
There was just light enough for her to see the pathway through the beech clump.
Beyond John Galsworthy
The gates, especially the one of the beech avenue, had always been such friends of hers, she knew and loved each crack.
Halcyone Elinor Glyn
I had not thought of beech or sycamore, but they are now sown.
More Letters of Charles Darwin Volume II Charles Darwin
He preferred the beech woods to the cultivated fields, the trap line or woodsman’s ax to the plow.
Double Challenge James Arthur Kjelgaard
noun
any N temperate tree of the genus Fagus, esp F. sylvatica of Europe, having smooth greyish bark: family Fagaceae
any tree of the related genus Nothofagus, of temperate Australasia and South America
the hard wood of any of these trees, used in making furniture, etc
See copper beech
n.
Old English bece “beech,” from Proto-Germanic *bokjon (cf. Old Norse bok, Dutch beuk, Flemish boek, Old High German buohha, German Buche, Middle Dutch boeke “beech”), from PIE root *bhagos “beech tree” (cf. Greek phegos “oak,” Latin fagus “beech,” Russian buzina “elder”), perhaps with a ground sense of “edible” (and connected with the root of Greek phagein “to eat;” see -phagous). Beech mast was an ancient food source for agricultural animals across a wide stretch of Europe. Formerly with adjectival form beechen. Also see book.
Read Also:
- Beechdrops
a low plant, Epifagus virginiana, of the broomrape family, without green foliage, parasitic upon the roots of the beech.
- Beech fern
either of two ferns, Thelypteris hexagonoptera, of eastern North America, or T. phegopteris, common in rich, moist woodlands of northern temperate regions. Historical Examples This is, of course, a rendering of the popular name, though why the species has been called the beech fern nobody seems to know. How to Know the Ferns S. Leonard […]
- Beech grove
a city in central Indiana. Historical Examples The ride to Beech Grove occupied another hour; a mere call, of course, was impossible. Rutledge Miriam Coles Harris Here he saw deer feeding, and he came after a while to a Beech Grove. An Old Man’s Love Anthony Trollope Go to the Beech Grove, and live with […]
- Beech marten
stone marten. noun another name for stone marten
- Beech mast
the edible nuts of the beech, especially when lying on the ground. Historical Examples I have known them to nest on hemlock mast alone in Pennsylvania, and in Michigan on the pine mast after the beech mast was gone. The Passenger Pigeon Various The old birds never feed in or near the nesting, leaving all […]