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.
[1913 Webster]
2. The strong wood or timber of the oak.
[1913 Webster]
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}.
[1913 Webster]
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}).
[1913 Webster]
{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
Bur \Bur\, Burr \Burr\ (b[^u]r), n. [OE. burre burdock; cf. Dan.
borre, OSw. borra, burdock, thistle; perh. akin to E. bristle
(burr- for burz-), or perh. to F. bourre hair, wool, stuff;
also, according to Cotgrave, "the downe, or hairie coat,
wherewith divers herbes, fruits, and flowers, are covered,"
fr. L. burrae trifles, LL. reburrus rough.]
1. (Bot.) Any rough or prickly envelope of the seeds of
plants, whether a pericarp, a persistent calyx, or an
involucre, as of the chestnut and burdock; a seed vessel
having hooks or prickles. Also, any weed which bears burs.
[1913 Webster]
Amongst rude burs and thistles. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
Bur and brake and brier. --Tennyson.
[1913 Webster]
2. The thin ridge left by a tool in cutting or shaping metal.
See {Burr}, n., 2.
[1913 Webster]
3. A ring of iron on a lance or spear. See {Burr}, n., 4.
[1913 Webster]
4. The lobe of the ear. See {Burr}, n., 5.
[1913 Webster]
5. The sweetbread.
[1913 Webster]
6. A clinker; a partially vitrified brick.
[1913 Webster]
7. (Mech.)
(a) A small circular saw.
(b) A triangular chisel.
(c) A drill with a serrated head larger than the shank; --
especially a small drill bit used by dentists.
[1913 Webster]
8. [Cf. Gael. borr, borra, a knob, bunch.] (Zool.) The round
knob of an antler next to a deer's head. [Commonly written
{burr}.]
[1913 Webster]
{Bur oak} (Bot.), a useful and ornamental species of oak
({Quercus macrocarpa}) with ovoid acorns inclosed in deep
cups imbricated with pointed scales. It grows in the
Middle and Western United States, and its wood is tough,
close-grained, and durable.
{Bur reed} (Bot.), a plant of the genus {Sparganium}, having
long ribbonlike leaves.
[1913 Webster]