HICKORY

hickory, hickory tree

(noun) American hardwood tree bearing edible nuts

hickory

(noun) valuable tough heavy hardwood from various hickory trees

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Adjective

hickory (not comparable)

Of or pertaining to the hickory tree or its wood.

Noun

hickory (plural hickories)

Any of various deciduous hardwood trees of the genus Carya or Annamocarya.

(uncountable) The wood of these trees.

Source: Wiktionary

Hick"o*ry, n. Etym: [North American Indian pawcohiccora (Capt. J. Smith) a kind of milk or oily liquor pressed from pounded hickory nuts. "Pohickory" is named in a list of Virginia trees, in 1653, and this was finally shortened to "hickory." J. H. Trumbull.] (Bot.)

Definition: An American tree of the genus Carya, of which there are several species. The shagbark is the C. alba, and has a very rough bark; it affords the hickory nut of the markets. The pignut, or brown hickory, is the C. glabra. The swamp hickory is C. amara, having a nut whose shell is very thin and the kernel bitter. Hickory shad. (Zoöl.) (a) The mattowacca, or fall herring. (b) The gizzard shad.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition