HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY

To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.

Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.

guide to the dictionary

wood¹

(wd)

a. The secondary xylem of trees and shrubs, lying beneath the bark and consisting largely of cellulose and lignin.

b. This tissue when cut and dried, used especially for building material and fuel.

2. often woods

a. A growth of trees and other plants usually covering a smaller area than a forest.

b. A forest.

3. An object made of wood, especially:

a. Music A woodwind.

b. Sports Any of a series of golf clubs used to hit long shots, having a bulbous head made of wood, metal, or graphite, and numbered one to five in order of increasing loft.

v. wood·ed, wood·ing, woods

v.tr.

1. To fuel with wood.

2. To cover with trees; forest.

v.intr.

To gather or be supplied with wood.

adj.

1. Made or consisting of wood; wooden.

2. Used or suitable for cutting, storing, or working with wood.

3. woods Living, growing, or present in forests: woods animals; a woods path.

Idiom:

out of the woods Informal

Free of a difficult or hazardous situation; in a position of safety or security.

[Middle English wode, from Old English wudu.]

wood²

(wd)

adj.
Archaic

Mentally deranged.

[Middle English, from Old English wōd; see wet-¹ in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

Wood

(wd), Grant 1892-1942.

American artist noted for his paintings based on life in the Midwest, especially American Gothic (1930).

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

American Heritage Dictionary Products

HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY

THE USAGE PANEL

AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG

INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

American Heritage Dictionary Products