: a rapidly growing North American maple (Acer negundo) with compound leaves
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebInterestingly, silver maple and box elder, also a member of the maple family, along with Eastern cottonwood, are also keystone plants, according to the NWF. Jennifer Rude Klett, Journal Sentinel, 8 Sep. 2022 The rising waters drowned waterfalls, box elder groves and thousands of cultural sites — ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings, intricate rock art panels and Paleolithic hunting camps dating back over 12,000 years. Zak Podmore, The Salt Lake Tribune, 29 Aug. 2022 Horned lizards and jack rabbits dart between thorny shrubs and scrawny box elder trees. Matt Stirn, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Mar. 2022 The trees also have a pest, resembling box elder bugs of the north, called golden-rain tree bugs that feed on the seeds and may prevent some from sprouting. Tom Maccubbin, orlandosentinel.com, 30 Oct. 2021 These are box elder bugs in various stages of development.oregonlive, 1 Aug. 2021 Tree plantings included silver maple, box elder, swamp and black oak, and varieties of birch, cedar, and willow trees.BostonGlobe.com, 8 July 2021 Coming in next is the box elder, which makes up only 4% of trees. Morgan Greene, chicagotribune.com, 30 Apr. 2021 Sugar and black maples are best, but red maples, silver maples and box elder trees will work, too. Susan Dietrich Hassler, Star Tribune, 3 Mar. 2021 See More
Word History
First Known Use
1787, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
box elder
noun
: a North American maple with leaves divided into several leaflets