sour gum

3 definitions found

sour gum - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Sour \Sour\, a. [Compar. Sourer; superl. Sourest.] [OE.
     sour, sur, AS. s?r; akin to D. zuur, G. sauer, OHG. s?r,
     Icel. s?rr, Sw. sur, Dan. suur, Lith. suras salt, Russ.
     surovui harsh, rough. Cf. Sorrel, the plant.]
     1. Having an acid or sharp, biting taste, like vinegar, and
        the juices of most unripe fruits; acid; tart.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              All sour things, as vinegar, provoke appetite.
                                                    --Bacon.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Changed, as by keeping, so as to be acid, rancid, or
        musty, turned.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Disagreeable; unpleasant; hence; cross; crabbed; peevish;
        morose; as, a man of a sour temper; a sour reply. "A sour
        countenance." --Swift.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              He was a scholar . . .
              Lofty and sour to them that loved him not,
              But to those men that sought him sweet as summer.
                                                    --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. Afflictive; painful. "Sour adversity." --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. Cold and unproductive; as, sour land; a sour marsh.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Sour dock (Bot.), sorrel.
  
     Sour gourd (Bot.), the gourdlike fruit Adansonia  Gregorii
        , and Adansonia digitata; also, either of the
        trees bearing this fruit. See Adansonia.
  
     Sour grapes. See under Grape.
  
     Sour gum (Bot.) See Turelo.
  
     Sour plum (Bot.), the edible acid fruit of an Australian
        tree (Owenia venosa); also, the tree itself, which
        furnished a hard reddish wood used by wheelwrights.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: Acid; sharp; tart; acetous; acetose; harsh; acrimonious;
          crabbed; currish; peevish.
          [1913 Webster]

  Tupelo \Tu"pe*lo\, n. [Tupelo, or tupebo, the native American
     Indian name.] (Bot.)
     A North American tree (Nyssa multiflora) of the Dogwood
     family, having brilliant, glossy foliage and acid red
     berries. The wood is crossgrained and very difficult to
     split. Called also black gum, sour gum, and pepperidge.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Largo tupelo, or Tupelo gum (Bot.), an American tree
        (Nyssa uniflora) with softer wood than the tupelo.
  
     Sour tupelo (Bot.), the Ogeechee lime.
        [1913 Webster]

sour gum - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  sour gum
      n 1: columnar tree of eastern North America having horizontal
           limbs and small leaves that emerge late in spring and have
           brilliant color in early fall [syn: sour gum, black gum
           , pepperidge, Nyssa sylvatica]