Definition of "butternut" []

• An eastern North American walnut (Juglans cinerea) having light-brown wood, pinnately compound leaves, and a deeply furrowed nut enclosed in an egg-shaped, sticky, aromatic husk. Also called white walnut. (noun)
• The nut of this tree, having an edible sweet kernel. (noun)
• The wood of this tree, used for furniture, boxes, and interior finishes. (noun)
• The bark of this tree. (noun)
• A brownish dye obtained from the husks of the fruits of this tree. (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.

• "I think butternut is my favorite too with yellow as a close second. glidingcalm - thanks!"
• "During Shiloh they were either in butternut there dying in the orchard, dying without water or thin-lipped still in Purdy, where cannon boom and rifle shot came clear even on a breezeless day, sliding through the clapboard walls, clotting milk and setting loose that first wall-eyed notion of leaving the South behind."
• "Sorry for all the good ol 'boys in butternut and gray, but they had some responsibility for what happened -- and for losing."