Definition of "ironwood" [i•ron•wood]

• Any of numerous trees, such as the hornbeam and the hop hornbeam, that have very hard wood. (noun)
• The wood of any of these trees. (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.

• "Back in Maine, the term ironwood clearly referred to the common hop hornbeam."
• "Courtesy of the artist Dismantled temples dating from the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) provided the tieli wood -- also called ironwood -- for "Map of China" (2004)."
• "Unique to southwestern Morocco, the trees produce a hard wood, called ironwood, used for fuel."