American chestnut

noun

See under chestnut(def 1).

Origin of American chestnut

An Americanism dating back to 1775–85

Definition for american chestnut (2 of 2)

chestnut

[ ches-nuht, -nuh t ]

/ ˈtʃɛsˌnʌt, -nət /

noun

any of the several deciduous trees constituting the genus Castanea, of the beech family, having toothed, oblong leaves and bearing edible nuts enclosed in a prickly bur, and including C. dentata (American chestnut), which has been virtually destroyed by the chestnut blight, C. sativa (European chestnut), C. mollissima (Chinese chestnut), and C. crenata (Japanese chestnut).

the edible nut of such a tree.

the wood of any of these trees.

any fruit or tree resembling the chestnut, as the horse chestnut.

reddish brown.

an old or stale joke, anecdote, etc.

the callosity on the inner side of the leg of a horse.

a reddish-brown horse having the mane and tail of the same color. Compare bay⁵(def 2).

Also called liver chestnut. a horse of a solid, dark-brown color.

adjective

being reddish-brown in color.

(of food) containing or made with chestnuts: turkey with chestnut stuffing.

Origin of chestnut

1350–1400; 1880–85 for def 6; earlier chesten nut, Middle English chesten, Old English cysten chestnut tree (< Latin castanea < Greek kastanéa) + nut

OTHER WORDS FROM chestnut

chest·nut·ty, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for american chestnut

chestnut

/ (ˈtʃɛsˌnʌt) /

noun

any N temperate fagaceous tree of the genus Castanea, such as C. sativa (sweet or Spanish chestnut), which produce flowers in long catkins and nuts in a prickly bur Compare horse chestnut, water chestnut, dwarf chestnut

the edible nut of any of these trees

the hard wood of any of these trees, used in making furniture, etc

a reddish-brown to brown colour
(as adjective)chestnut hair

a horse of a yellow-brown or golden-brown colour

a small horny callus on the inner surface of a horse's leg

informal an old or stale joke

Word Origin for chestnut

C16: from earlier chesten nut: chesten, from Old French chastaigne, from Latin castanea, from Greek kastanea

Idioms and Phrases with american chestnut

chestnut

see old chestnut.

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

American chestnut

noun

Origin of American chestnut

Definition for american chestnut (2 of 2)

noun

adjective

Origin of chestnut

OTHER WORDS FROM chestnut

British Dictionary definitions for american chestnut

noun

Word Origin for chestnut

Idioms and Phrases with american chestnut