logwood

2 definitions found

logwood - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Logwood \Log"wood`\n. [So called from being imported in logs.]
     The heartwood of a tree (H[ae]matoxylon Campechianum), a
     native of South America, It is a red, heavy wood, containing
     a crystalline substance called h[ae]matoxylin, and is used
     largely in dyeing. An extract from this wood is used in
     medicine as an astringent. Also called Campeachy wood, and
     bloodwood.
     [1913 Webster]

logwood - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  logwood
      n 1: very hard brown to brownish-red heartwood of a logwood
           tree; used in preparing a purplish red dye
      2: spiny shrub or small tree of Central America and West Indies
         having bipinnate leaves and racemes of small bright yellow
         flowers and yielding a hard brown or brownish-red heartwood
         used in preparing a black dye [syn: logwood, logwood   tree
         , campeachy, bloodwood tree, Haematoxylum   campechianum
         ]