wood
a hard substance that forms the branches and trunks of trees and can be used as a building material, for making things, or as a fuel
The table is made of wood.
Oxford Essential Dictionary
wood
noun
1 (no plural) the hard substance that trees are made of:
Put some more wood on the fire.
The table is made of wood.
2 (also woods) a big group of trees, smaller than a forest:
a large wood
a walk in the woods
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
wood S2 W2 /wʊd/ BrE AmE noun
[Word Family: adjective: ↑wooded, ↑wooden, ↑woody; noun: ↑wood, ↑woodenness; adverb: ↑woodenly]
[Language: Old English; Origin: wudu]
1. [uncountable and countable] the material that trees are made of ⇨ wooden, woody:
Put some more wood on the fire.
a polished wood floor
Her house was made of wood. ⇨ ↑hardwood, ↑softwood
2. [countable] (also the woods) a small forest:
a walk in the woods
3. touch wood British English, knock on wood American English said just after you have said that things are going well for you, when you want your good luck to continue
4. [countable] one of a set of four ↑golf clubs with wooden heads
5. not be out of the wood(s) yet informal used to say that there are likely to be more difficulties before things improve
6. not see the wood for the trees to not notice what is important about something because you give too much of your attention to small details
⇨ ↑dead wood
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ adjectives
▪ solid wood You can install a solid wood door.
▪ bare wood (=not painted or covered) The floors were of bare wood.
▪ a hard/soft wood Oak is a hard wood.
■ verbs
▪ chop wood He was chopping wood for the fire.
▪ cut/saw wood A local carpenter cut the wood to size.
▪ carve wood (=used a knife to shape it) The room was decorated with carved wood.
■ phrases
▪ a piece of wood He made a bench out of pieces of wood.
▪ a plank of wood (=a long thin flat piece) The shed was constructed from some old planks of wood.
▪ a block of wood I used a block of wood to knock the pole into the ground.
▪ the grain of the wood (=the natural lines in it) The oil enhances the natural grain of the wood.
■ wood + NOUN
▪ wood chips (=small rough pieces) Fish are smoked slowly over wood chips.
▪ wood shavings (=thin curly pieces) He cleared up the wood shavings.
▪ wood smoke There was a smell of wood smoke.
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
wood
wood [wood woods] [wʊd] [wʊd] noun
1. uncountable, countable the hard material that the trunk and branches of a tree are made of; this material when it is used to build or make things with, or as a fuel
• He chopped some wood for the fire.
• a plank of wood
• All the furniture was made of wood.
• a wood floor
• furniture made of a variety of different woods
• In the spring, cut out the old wood and shorten the young stems (= of bushes, etc.).
see also dead wood, hardwood, softwood, wooden, woody
2. countable (also woods plural) an area of trees, smaller than a forest
• a large wood
• a walk in the woods
see also wooded
3. countable a heavy wooden ball used in the game of bowls
4. countable a golf club with a large head, that was usually made of wood in the past
compare iron
more at knock on wood at knock v., neck of the woods at neck n., touch wood at touch v.
Idioms: not out of the woods ▪ not see the wood for the trees
See also: not see the forest for the trees
Word Origin:
Old English wudu, from a Germanic word related to Welsh gwŷdd ‘trees’.
Example Bank:
• He wandered through the beech wood.
• I made a coffee table out of a few bits of wood.
• Over the years, much of the wood in the house had rotted.
• Pine is a soft wood.
• She pruned the dead wood from the tree.
• She stained the wood green.
• She wandered through the woods.
• The cabinet is made of cherry wood.
• The chapel has some interesting works in wood and marble.
• The direction of the wood grain influences the composition of the carving.
• The house had dark wood floors.
• The pub had dark wood panelling.
• The wood was too green to burn.
• There were neat piles of kindling wood against the wall.
• Traditionally wood was seasoned in the open air.
• We came to a clearing in the woods.
• We carve the moulds in wood.
• We gathered wood for the fire.
• When using a plane, be sure to follow the grain of the wood.
• a cabin deep in the woods of Maine
• a wardrobe in a mahogany wood finish
• paper made from wood pulp
• the largest ancient wood in Scotland
• the sound of splintering wood
• varnish that retains the natural wood look
• We descended through an oak wood to the village below.
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
wood
wood (GROUP OF TREES) /wʊd/
noun [C]
an area of land covered with a thick growth of trees:
an oak wood
See also woodland.
wooded /ˈwʊd.ɪd/
adjective
covered with trees:
wooded hills
The police found a vital clue to the girl's disappearance in a wooded area near her home.
woods /wʊdz/
plural noun
a wood:
We went for a walk in the woods after lunch.
woody /ˈwʊd.i/
adjective
They lived in a remote cottage set high on a woody hillside.
wood (MATERIAL) /wʊd/
noun
1 [C or U] a hard substance which forms the branches and trunks of trees and which can be used as a building material, for making things, or as a fuel:
He gathered some wood to build a fire.
She fixed a couple of planks of wood to the wall for shelves.
Mahogany is a hard wood and pine is a soft wood.
The room was heated by a wood-burning stove.
2 [C] a type of golf club (= long, thin stick) with a rounded wooden end, used in golf for hitting the ball over long distances:
He likes to use a number 2 wood to tee off.
wood /wʊd/
adjective
made of wood:
Solid wood furniture is much more sturdy and durable than chipboard furniture.
We sanded and polished the wood floor in the living room.
Much of the original 18th-century wood panelling was destroyed in the fire.
See also wooden (WOOD).
woody /ˈwʊd.i/
adjective
1 like wood, for example in taste or smell
2 describes plants with hard stems:
The garden was overgrown with woody plants such as hawthorn and bramble.
See also woody at wood (GROUP OF TREES).
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary
wood
[w'ʊd]
woods
1) N-MASS Wood is the material which forms the trunks and branches of trees.
Their dishes were made of wood...
There was a smell of damp wood and machine oil.
...a short piece of wood.
2) N-COUNT A wood is a fairly large area of trees growing near each other. You can refer to one or several of these areas as woods, and this is the usual form in American English.
After dinner Alice slipped away for a walk in the woods with Artie...
About a mile to the west of town he came upon a large wood.
3) → See also dead wood
4) PHRASE: v-link PHR If something or someone is not out of the woods yet, they are still having difficulties or problems. [INFORMAL]
The nation's economy is not out of the woods yet.
5) CONVENTION You can say `touch wood' in British English, or `knock on wood' in American English, to indicate that you hope to have good luck in something you are doing, usually after saying that you have been lucky with it so far.
She's never even been to the doctor's, touch wood...
Touch wood, I've been lucky enough to avoid any other serious injuries.
6) your neck of the woods → see neck
can't see the wood for the trees → see tree
Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary
1wood /ˈwʊd/ noun, pl woods
1 [noncount] : the hard substance that makes up the stems and branches of trees and shrubs
• a block of wood
• Some baseball bats are made out of wood.
• The wood on the deck has begun to rot.
- see also deadwood, driftwood, hardwood, plywood
2 a or woods [count] : an area of land covered with many trees
• Their house is near a small wood.
• A thick woods runs along the boundary of the estate.
b woods : a thick growth of trees and bushes that covers a wide area : forest
[noncount]
• The house is surrounded by woods.
• He went for a hike in the woods.
[plural]
• The woods are a dangerous place for walking. [=the forest is a dangerous place for walking]
3 [count] : a golf club with a large head that was made of wood in the past but is now usually made of metal
• She hit a wood off the tee.
• a fairway wood [=a type of wood that is used to hit shots from the fairway]
- compare 1iron 3
babe in the woods
- see babe
knock on wood US or chiefly Brit touch wood
✦People say knock on wood or touch wood and often hit or touch something made of wood as a way to prevent bad luck after they have just said that something good has happened, that they are in a good situation, etc.
• I've never broken a bone, knock on wood.
neck of the woods
- see 1neck
not see the wood for the trees
- see tree
out of the wood/woods : in a position free from danger or difficulty
• Her health is getting better but she's not out of the woods yet. [=she is still sick; there is still a chance that her condition could get much worse]
