Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A common name for West Indian species of Citharexylum, and trees of allied genera, as C. quadrangulare, C. villosum (which is also found in southern Florida), Vitex umbrosa, Petitia Domingensis, etc. The wood is heavy, hard, and strong, and is used in building.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The wood of several West Indian trees, mostly of the genus Citharexylum.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The wood of several West Indian trees, mostly of the genus Citharexylum.
  • noun Any of these trees.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Corrupted from French bois-fidèle, literally "faithful wood", so called from its durability.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word fiddlewood.

Examples

  • Thigh-high grass whickered against our pants; stiff fiddlewood stems poked at our ankles.

    Duma Key King, Stephen, 1947- 2008

  • And now we began to see sprays of sawgrass and tough, waxy fiddlewood growing right up through cracks in the tar.

    Duma Key King, Stephen, 1947- 2008

  • The Wood Book Shows 350 kinds of wood, from the cucumber tree to fiddlewood.

    Holiday Gift Guide: Entertainment 2007

  • In the back of the inn, a thick tangle of Turks cap, fiddlewood and firebush attract throngs of birds;

    Brownsville Herald : 2009

  • (the word kit meaning a fiddle), "or fiddlewood," because if two of the stalks are rubbed together, they make a noise like the scraping of the bow on violin strings.

    Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure William Thomas Fernie

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.