Definition of "fustic" [fus•tic]

• A small dioecious tropical American tree (Chlorophora tinctoria) having wood that yields a yellow dyestuff. (noun)
• The wood of this plant. (noun)
• A dyestuff obtained from the wood of this plant. (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.

• "At last Friday pitched upon a tree, for I found he knew much better than I what kind of wood was fittest for it; nor can I tell, to this day, what wood to call the tree we cut down, except that it was very like the tree we call fustic, or between that and the Nicaragua wood, for it was much of the same color and smell."
• "This tree is sometimes called old fustic, in order to distinguish it from another commercial dye called young fustic, which is obtained in"
• "At last Friday pitched upon a tree; for I found he knew much better than I what kind of wood was fittest for it; nor can I tell to this day what wood to call the tree we cut down, except that it was very like the tree we call fustic, or between that and the Nicaragua wood, for it was much of the same colour and smell."