Definition of "hickory" []

• Any of several chiefly North American deciduous trees of the genus Carya, having smooth or shaggy bark, compound leaves, and hard smooth stones or nuts, each containing an edible seed and surrounded by a husk that splits into four valves. (noun)
• The hard, tough, heavy wood of such a tree. (noun)
• A walking stick or switch made from such wood. (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.

• "And almost on denim hickory is favored for similar properties."
• "If hickory is too strong for your taste, mix it with some oak."
• "With the exception of the chestnut, the nut trees are not so very common; yet the hickory is not rare, and both the black walnut and the butternut are met with."