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Definition of "hazel" []

  • Any of various shrubs or small trees of the genus Corylus, especially the European species C. avellana or the American species C. americana, bearing edible nuts enclosed in a leafy husk. Also called filbert. (noun)
  • A hazelnut. (noun)
  • A light brown or yellowish brown. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "hazel" in a sentence
  • "He was to take the timber at a valuation, and it is a sufficient proof of his ignorance of these matters, that he really did not know the difference between a hazel bush and an oak tree; for, although he was a very clever and an ingenious man in his way, yet he actually applied to me, to know how they would measure such _small timber_ as that which he pointed out to me, which was nothing more than a _hazel bush!"
  • "The Americans generally accept the use of the term hazel to apply to both the American and European species."
  • "He was skilled in the lore of plants and herbs, and by means of a slender hazel from the woods could tell where crystal waters flowed deep in the bowels of the earth."