basswood

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun soft light-colored wood of any of various linden trees; used in making crates and boxes and in carving and millwork
noun any of various deciduous trees of the genus Tilia with heart-shaped leaves and drooping cymose clusters of yellowish often fragrant flowers; several yield valuable timber

From bass (“fibrous inner bark”) + wood.

Rising above the brush on the hillside was a great hollow basswood. — Wild Animals I Have Known, Ernest Thompson Seton
Now he straddles the saw-buck and yanks the woodsaw athwart the bosom of the basswood chunk. — Remarks, Bill Nye
As for the name, I'm indebted to kind nature, which planted the valley in basswood, and to Josie, who contributed the philological knowledge and the taste. — Aladdin & Co.: A Romance of Yankee Magic, Herbert Quick

linden

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