| 释义 |
‖ balsa|ˈbɔːlsə, ˈbælsə|
Also 8 balza.
[Sp. ‘a boat.’ Minsheu 1623.]
1. A raft, or fishing-float, used chiefly on the Pacific coasts of South America. Also, balsa raft.
1777Robertson Hist. Amer. II. vii. 320 Where the rivers became deep..they are passed in Balzas, or floats. 1850Prescott Peru II. 3 To transport the commander's baggage and the military stores on some of the Indian balsas. 1915‘Bartimeus’ Tall Ship i. 15 The Commander..was standing on the balsa raft.
2. A bombaceous tree of tropical America, Ochroma lagopus; also, the wood of this tree, used for its extreme lightness. Also balsa tree, balsa wood. Cf. corkwood 2.
1866Lindley & Moore Treas. Bot. s.v. Ochroma, The very buoyant rafts or balsas, the unsinkable properties of which caused such surprise among the discoverers of America, are likewise made of it, whence the tree is called Balsa in some parts of America. 1917Sci. Amer. Nov. 345/3 A new wood, apparently little known and called balsa wood, is exceedingly light. 1920Flight XII. 1301/2 Balsa wood..is so extremely light that it can be recommended for making aerofoils. 1924Contemp. Rev. Jan. 95 The balsa tree, a wood which, from its extreme lightness, is specially suitable in the construction of aeroplanes. 1933Discovery June 194/1 Advance scouts had drifted on a balsa-wood raft. 1951Oxf. Jun. Encycl. VII. 223/2 Balsa is only half the weight of cork, and is the lightest and softest of commercial woods. |