castanea vesce

1 definition found

castanea vesce - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Chestnut \Chest"nut\, n. [For chesten-nut; OE. chestein,
     chesten, chastein, chestnut, fr. AS. cisten in cistenbe['a]m
     chestnut tree, influenced by OF. chastaigne, F. ch[^a]taigne,
     both the AS. and the F. words coming from L. castanea a
     chestnut, Gr. ?, fr. ? a city of Pontus, where chestnut trees
     grew in abundance, and whence they were introduced into
     Europe. Cf. Castanets.]
     1. (Bot.) The edible nut of a forest tree (Castanea vesce)
        of Europe and America. Commonly two or more of the nuts
        grow in a prickly bur.
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     2. The tree itself, or its light, coarse-grained timber, used
        for ornamental work, furniture, etc.
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     3. A bright brown color, like that of the nut.
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     4. The horse chestnut (often so used in England).
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     5. One of the round, or oval, horny plates on the inner sides
        of the legs of the horse, and allied animals.
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     6. An old joke or story. [Slang]
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     Chestnut tree, a tree that bears chestnuts.
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