paddlewoodn.
/ˈpadlwʊd/, U.S. /ˈpædlˌwʊd/ A tropical South American tree, Aspidosperma excelsum (family Apocynaceae) (also paddlewood tree); the light, elastic wood of this tree, used esp. to make paddles for canoes.
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society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood of specific trees > [noun] > other woods of South American trees
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kingwood1788
canary wood1822
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macaco-wood1835
paddlewood1837
quebracho1839
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palisander1930
1837 R. H. Schomburgk Jrnl. 30 Jan. in Jrnl. Royal Geogr. Soc. 7 329 We saw..the Yaruri, or paddle wood, which is curious as the trunk appears as if it consisted of a number of slender trees grown together... The wood is very elastic, and..is much esteemed by the Indians for paddles.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. I. 103/2 A[spidosperma]excelsum, called by the colonists Paddle-wood, is remarkable for its singularly fluted trunk, composed of solid projecting radii, which the Indians use as ready-made planks.
1917 Blackwood's Mag. Nov. 651/1 Paddles roughly hewn from the buttresses of a yarula, or paddle-wood tree.
1987 D. J. Mabberley Plant-bk. 49 Aspidosperma... Good timber, e.g. A. excelsum Benth. (paddlewood) for tool-handles etc.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1837