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Definition of "sandalwood" [san•dal•wood]

  • Any of several tropical Asian trees of the genus Santalum, especially S. album, having aromatic yellowish heartwood used in cabinetmaking and wood carving and yielding an oil used in perfumery. (noun)
  • Any of several tropical Asian trees of the genera Adenanthera, Myroporum, and Pterocarpus. (noun)
  • The wood of any of these trees. (noun)
  • A light to moderate or grayish 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 "sandalwood" in a sentence
  • "That is why they bathe babies in sandalwood water and wrap them in soft red malmal, color of luck."
  • "Carvèd in sandalwood, fragrant with essences, spread with new pillows,"
  • "I wasn't prompted by instinct or anything of the kind, it was just that my nostrils had been almost unconsciously titillated for some time past by a perfume that I'd just identified as sandalwood, and as I am rather partial to it, I just wanted to see who was wearing it."