from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Oak \Oak\ ([=o]k), n. [OE. oke, ok, ak, AS. [=a]c; akin to D.
eik, G. eiche, OHG. eih, Icel. eik, Sw. ek, Dan. eeg.]
[1913 Webster]
1. (Bot.) Any tree or shrub of the genus {Quercus}. The oaks
have alternate leaves, often variously lobed, and
staminate flowers in catkins. The fruit is a smooth nut,
called an {acorn}, which is more or less inclosed in a
scaly involucre called the cup or cupule. There are now
recognized about three hundred species, of which nearly
fifty occur in the United States, the rest in Europe,
Asia, and the other parts of North America, a very few
barely reaching the northern parts of South America and
Africa. Many of the oaks form forest trees of grand
proportions and live many centuries. The wood is usually
hard and tough, and provided with conspicuous medullary
rays, forming the silver grain.
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2. The strong wood or timber of the oak.
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Note: Among the true oaks in America are:
{Barren oak}, or
{Black-jack}, {Quercus nigra}.
{Basket oak}, {Quercus Michauxii}.
{Black oak}, {Quercus tinctoria}; -- called also {yellow oak}
or {quercitron oak}.
{Bur oak} (see under {Bur}.), {Quercus macrocarpa}; -- called
also {over-cup} or {mossy-cup oak}.
{Chestnut oak}, {Quercus Prinus} and {Quercus densiflora}.
{Chinquapin oak} (see under {Chinquapin}), {Quercus
prinoides}.
{Coast live oak}, {Quercus agrifolia}, of California; -- also
called {enceno}.
{Live oak} (see under {Live}), {Quercus virens}, the best of
all for shipbuilding; also, {Quercus Chrysolepis}, of
California.
{Pin oak}. Same as {Swamp oak}.
{Post oak}, {Quercus obtusifolia}.
{Red oak}, {Quercus rubra}.
{Scarlet oak}, {Quercus coccinea}.
{Scrub oak}, {Quercus ilicifolia}, {Quercus undulata}, etc.
{Shingle oak}, {Quercus imbricaria}.
{Spanish oak}, {Quercus falcata}.
{Swamp Spanish oak}, or
{Pin oak}, {Quercus palustris}.
{Swamp white oak}, {Quercus bicolor}.
{Water oak}, {Quercus aquatica}.
{Water white oak}, {Quercus lyrata}.
{Willow oak}, {Quercus Phellos}.
[1913 Webster] Among the true oaks in Europe are:
{Bitter oak}, or
{Turkey oak}, {Quercus Cerris} (see {Cerris}).
{Cork oak}, {Quercus Suber}.
{English white oak}, {Quercus Robur}.
{Evergreen oak},
{Holly oak}, or
{Holm oak}, {Quercus Ilex}.
{Kermes oak}, {Quercus coccifera}.
{Nutgall oak}, {Quercus infectoria}.
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Note: Among plants called oak, but not of the genus
{Quercus}, are:
{African oak}, a valuable timber tree ({Oldfieldia
Africana}).
{Australian oak} or {She oak}, any tree of the genus
{Casuarina} (see {Casuarina}).
{Indian oak}, the teak tree (see {Teak}).
{Jerusalem oak}. See under {Jerusalem}.
{New Zealand oak}, a sapindaceous tree ({Alectryon
excelsum}).
{Poison oak}, a shrub once not distinguished from poison ivy,
but now restricted to {Rhus toxicodendron} or {Rhus
diversiloba}.
{Silky oak} or {Silk-bark oak}, an Australian tree
({Grevillea robusta}).
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{Green oak}, oak wood colored green by the growth of the
mycelium of certain fungi.
{Oak apple}, a large, smooth, round gall produced on the
leaves of the American red oak by a gallfly ({Cynips
confluens}). It is green and pulpy when young.
{Oak beauty} (Zool.), a British geometrid moth ({Biston
prodromaria}) whose larva feeds on the oak.
{Oak gall}, a gall found on the oak. See 2d {Gall}.
{Oak leather} (Bot.), the mycelium of a fungus which forms
leatherlike patches in the fissures of oak wood.
{Oak pruner}. (Zool.) See {Pruner}, the insect.
{Oak spangle}, a kind of gall produced on the oak by the
insect {Diplolepis lenticularis}.
{Oak wart}, a wartlike gall on the twigs of an oak.
{The Oaks}, one of the three great annual English horse races
(the Derby and St. Leger being the others). It was
instituted in 1779 by the Earl of Derby, and so called
from his estate.
{To sport one's oak}, to be "not at home to visitors,"
signified by closing the outer (oaken) door of one's
rooms. [Cant, Eng. Univ.]
[1913 Webster]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Swamp \Swamp\, n. [Cf. AS. swam a fungus, OD. swam a sponge, D.
zwam a fungus, G. schwamm a sponge, Icel. sv["o]ppr, Dan. &
Sw. swamp, Goth. swamms, Gr. somfo`s porous, spongy.]
Wet, spongy land; soft, low ground saturated with water, but
not usually covered with it; marshy ground away from the
seashore.
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Gray swamps and pools, waste places of the hern.
--Tennyson.
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A swamp differs from a bog and a marsh in producing
trees and shrubs, while the latter produce only
herbage, plants, and mosses. --Farming
Encyc. (E.
Edwards,
Words).
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{Swamp blackbird}. (Zool.) See {Redwing}
(b) .
{Swamp cabbage} (Bot.), skunk cabbage.
{Swamp deer} (Zool.), an Asiatic deer ({Rucervus Duvaucelli})
of India.
{Swamp hen}. (Zool.)
(a) An Australian azure-breasted bird ({Porphyrio bellus});
-- called also {goollema}.
(b) An Australian water crake, or rail ({Porzana Tabuensis});
-- called also {little swamp hen}.
(c) The European purple gallinule.
{Swamp honeysuckle} (Bot.), an American shrub ({Azalea
viscosa} syn. {Rhododendron viscosa} or {Rhododendron
viscosum}) growing in swampy places, with fragrant flowers
of a white color, or white tinged with rose; -- called
also {swamp pink} and {white swamp honeysuckle}.
{Swamp hook}, a hook and chain used by lumbermen in handling
logs. Cf. {Cant hook}.
{Swamp itch}. (Med.) See {Prairie itch}, under {Prairie}.
{Swamp laurel} (Bot.), a shrub ({Kalmia glauca}) having small
leaves with the lower surface glaucous.
{Swamp maple} (Bot.), red maple. See {Maple}.
{Swamp oak} (Bot.), a name given to several kinds of oak
which grow in swampy places, as swamp Spanish oak
({Quercus palustris}), swamp white oak ({Quercus
bicolor}), swamp post oak ({Quercus lyrata}).
{Swamp ore} (Min.), bog ore; limonite.
{Swamp partridge} (Zool.), any one of several Australian game
birds of the genera {Synoicus} and {Excalfatoria}, allied
to the European partridges.
{Swamp robin} (Zool.), the chewink.
{Swamp sassafras} (Bot.), a small North American tree of the
genus {Magnolia} ({Magnolia glauca}) with aromatic leaves
and fragrant creamy-white blossoms; -- called also {sweet
bay}.
{Swamp sparrow} (Zool.), a common North American sparrow
({Melospiza Georgiana}, or {Melospiza palustris}), closely
resembling the song sparrow. It lives in low, swampy
places.
{Swamp willow}. (Bot.) See {Pussy willow}, under {Pussy}.
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