oak leafn.
/ˈəʊk ˌliːf/, U.S. /ˈoʊk ˌlif/ 1. A leaf of an oak tree.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > oak and allies > [noun] > bark, wood, twig, leaf, or stump
oak leafeOE
oakc1385
oak bark1579
spine-oak1825
eOE Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) iii. viii. 312 Nim þas wyrte..se fula wermod, sio greate banwyrt, acleaf, wegbræde, [etc.].
c1450 Treat. Fysshynge wyth Angle (1883) 26 A bayte that bredyth on an oke leyf.
1614 G. Markham Cheape & Good Husb. i. 77 The Staggers..is ingendred in Sheep by surfetting on Oake leaues.
1723 H. Rowlands Mona Antiqua Restaurata ix. 88 The very Mud taken out of the Ditches it discouers, which near the bottom of the Ditch seem to be all one Mass of rotten Oak-leaves.
a1759 C. H. Williams Wks. (1822) III. (title) Verses, written by Sir C. H. Williams, on seeing a man with a heavy load on his back and an oak leaf in his hat.
a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. i. 200 The little fly sits boring the oak-leaf.
1815 R. Polwhele Fair Isabel ii. vi. 81 The oak-leaf, tawny in decay.
1855 H. W. Longfellow Hiawatha xii. 161 As brown and withered As an oak-leaf is in Winter.
1882 R. Jefferies Bevis III. xvii. 264 A sapless brown wrinkled face like a withered oak leaf.
1907 ‘N. Blanchan’ Birds Every Child should Know iv. 60 At last, a little dome-shaped mound of grasses, half-hidden among the dry brown oak leaves and wild geranium, gladdened her eyes.
1974 W. Condry Woodlands iv. 51 There are many species..whose caterpillars feed on oak leaves.
1990 B. Neal Biscuits, Spoonbread, & Sweet Potato Pie i. 11 The dough was shaped into little cakes, wrapped in corn, hickory, or oak leaves and simmered or steamed much like tamales.
2.
a. A decoration or device resembling an oak leaf.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > architectural ornament > [noun] > foliage > leaf
leafc1400
water-leaf1444
acanthus1592
oak leaf1649
lotus leaf1739
raffle leaf1772
1649 Moderate Intelligencer No. 221 2094 The new Mace, with Oke leaves instead of Crosses, costing 137 li. was ordered to be paid.
1873 E. S. Phelps Trotty's Wedding Tour 224 Gray spatter-work (oak leaves and acorns) on cranberry silk.
1936 Amer. Home Feb. 9/3 Many mantels, doors, cornices, dadoes, and other detail show..such native and amusing details as the tobacco leaf, the oak leaf, the acorn, the cornstalk, [etc.].
1992 N.Y. Times 15 Nov. ii. 37/3 The earliest Sackler pieces are iridescent Spanish jars and dishes emblazoned with lustrous armorial motifs and oak leaves in the Hispano-Moresque style.
b. Any of various military or civil decorations, awards, or insignia in the form of an oak leaf or decorated with oak leaves.oak-leaf braid, cluster: see sense 5.
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1919 R. E. Wyllie Romance Mil. Insignia in National Geographic Mag. Dec. 493/1 For a second act warranting the award of the Medal of Honor a bronze oakleaf.
1943 C. H. Ward-Jackson It's a Piece of Cake 53 Scrambled eggs, the gold braid or oak leaves on the peak of the dress service cap of an officer of the rank of Group Captain or above.
1974 F. Nolan Algonquin Project i. 10 Oak leaves and stars, medals and ribbons everywhere.
3. A green or red variety of lettuce with broad lobed leaves. Also more fully oak leaf lettuce.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > leaf vegetables > lettuce > types of
cabbage lettuce?1537
Roman lettuce1577
minion1693
passion-lettuce1704
cos lettuce1706
shell-lettuce1707
lettuce cabbage1731
Silesia1731
rabbit food1772
Tom Thumb1847
romaine1865
oak leaf1892
iceberg lettuce1893
mignonette1923
lollo biondo1987
lollo rosso1987
1888 Amer. Naturalist 22 985 The cabbage and cos lettuces are the sorts now principally grown, but various other kinds, such as the curled, are frequently, and the sharp-leaves, oak-leaved, etc., occasionally, as novelties.]
1892 Garden & Forest 5 548/2 Boston Fine Curled, Green Fringed and Oak Leaf are only suitable for decoration and may be raised in limited quantities for the holidays.
1960 Burnett Bros. Seed Ann. (N.Y.) 56/2 Oakleaf (Summer Triumph). An all season variety of fine texture and sweet flavor.
1977 B. C. Moment Salad-green Gardener vii. 78 Fringed, plumelike mustard greens and dark blue dwarf kale, Green Curled endive, and the delicate leaves of Oak Leaf lettuce offer unusual colors and shapes to add to your early and late flower beds.
1994 Enroute (Air Canada) Mar. 67/2 Atlantic salmon with oak-leaf lettuce comprises a light meal, and so does linguine sauced fragrantly, if modestly, with fresh clams.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
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1828 J. H. Nichols in N. P. Willis Legendary II. 142 Oft, with my oak leaf basket green..Along your hill-sides I have strayed.
1872 R. H. Horne Orion (ed. 9) 24 Dryads and Oreads decked with oak-leaf crowns.
1902 New Reg. War Office 58 On the plate the royal cypher and crown in silver within an oak-leaf wreath.
1934 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Oak-leaf brown, the color feuille-morte.
1992 Condé Nast Traveler Mar. 65/2 My favorites are the piquant Saint-Marcellins, best when they have the moldy patina of their fermented oak-leaf wrapping.
C2.
oak-leaf braid n. a kind of braid woven in a design of oak leaves and acorns, used esp. to trim official caps and hats.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > ornamental textiles > ornamental trimmings > [noun] > braid > specific
parchment lace1542
lace1548
lacing1593
Naples lace1612
mignonette1721
struntain1793
French braid1809
lacet1822
Russia braid1825
Russian braid1839
soutache1856
mignardise1868
galloon1877
rickrack1880
Greek braid1894
vermicelli braid1904
tracing-braid1906
Paris binding1918
oak-leaf braid1934
1934 F. G. Blakeslee Police Uniforms of World 69 European Officers [in Nigeria] have a mess dress consisting of a white jacket,..dark blue trousers with 2 inch black oakleaf braid [etc.].
2000 Univ. Dundee Cal. 292 The facings, collar and arm-slits of this gown are embellished with a narrow band of gold oakleaf braid.
oak-leaf cluster n. U.S. a bronze or silver insignia in the form of an oak leaf, or group of oak leaves, issued to holders of certain military decorations to mark actions considered worthy of a second or subsequent award of the same decoration (the silver generally being equivalent to five of the bronze).
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1919 R. E. Wyllie Romance Mil. Insignia in National Geographic Mag. Dec. 493/1 No Medal of Honor has yet been decorated by the addition of an Oakleaf cluster.
1946 Mil. Affairs 10 40/1 For ‘inspiring leadership and tactical skill’ in those operations General Malony received an oak leaf cluster to the Distinguished Service Medal awarded to him in World War I.
1992 K. Follett Lie Down with Lions 80 Someone dumped the notification on his bed while he was in the john, and he found it when he came back, along with another Oak Leaf Cluster, his twenty-fifth (they were passing out medals kind of fast in those days).
oak-leaf hydrangea n. a deciduous hydrangea native to China and Japan, Hydrangea quercifolia, having deeply lobed leaves similar in appearance to those of the oak.
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1883 S. B. Parsons in Harper's Mag. Apr. 726/2 The oak-leaved hydrangea.]
1936 Howell Nurseries (Nashville, Tennessee) Catal. 14/2 Hydrangea... H. quercifolia. Oakleaf Hydrangea. 3 to 4 ft. With foliage similar in form to an oak leaf, this shrub is a rich dark green in summer and a claret color in fall.
1954 Amer. Midland Naturalist 52 294 Seven-bark, oak-leaf hydrangea.—Rich woods of ravines, bluffs and river banks, mostly in the Red Hills and along the escarpment, common.
1996 Park's Springtime Planting Guide Bk. 11/2 H. quercifolia Snow Queen... A greatly-improved version of the Oak-leaf Hydrangea.
oak-leaf jar n. a jar or pot of a type made in Tuscany in the 15th cent., decorated with a design of dark blue oak leaves.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > receptacle or container > vessel > jar > [noun] > jar with specific decoration
oak-leaf jar1903
1903 H. Wallis (title) Oak-leaf jars: A fifteenth century Italian ware showing Moresco influence.
1960 R. G. Haggar Conc. Encycl. Continental Pottery & Porcelain 334/1 Oak-leaf jars, tuscan fifteenth century maiolica drug pots painted with an oak-like..leaf decoration.
oak leaf roller n. (also oak leaf roller moth) any of various leaf roller moths (family Tortricidae) whose larvae live on oaks, sometimes causing severe defoliation; esp. (more fully green oak leaf roller moth) Tortrix viridana of Britain and Europe.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Tortricidae > member of
Tortrix1797
dial1819
leaf roller1830
subtriple spot1832
bell-moth1841
oak leaf roller1877
roller1877
red-banded leafroller1886
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Tortricidae > tortrix viridiana
oak moth1868
green oak leaf roller moth1997
1830 J. Rennie Insect Archit. viii. 163 (caption) Nests of oak-leaf rolling caterpillars.]
1877 Globe Encycl. IV. 463/1 Oak leaf roller (Tortrix viridans), a well-known species of moth belonging to the Tortricidae or ‘Leaf Rollers’.
1951 Dict. Gardening (Royal Hort. Soc.) III. 1141/1 The term [sc. leaf-rollers] properly belongs to the caterpillars of certain Tortricid Moths (e.g. the Oak Leaf-roller Moth) and certain Weevils.
1975 Science 31 Jan. 355/1 In Lepidoptera, a sexual excitant and a sexual attractant have been distinctly isolated from the pheromone extracts of the oak leaf roller moth, Archips semiferanus.
1997 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 94 9176/2 We present a companion data set on the green oak leaf roller moth, Tortrix viridana.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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