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beech
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6 dictionary results for: Beech
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
beech       [beech] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.any tree of the genus Fagus, of temperate regions, having a smooth gray bark and bearing small, edible, triangular nuts.
2.Also called beechwood. the wood of such a tree.
3.any member of the plant family Fagaceae, characterized by trees and shrubs having alternate, usually toothed or lobed leaves, male flowers in catkins and female flowers either solitary or in clusters and bearing a nut enclosed in a cupule or bur, including the beeches, chestnuts, and oaks.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME beche, OE béce < Gmc *bōkjōn-; akin to OS, MLG boke, D beuk, OHG buohha (G Buche), ON bōk, L fāgus beech, Doric Gk phāgós, Albanian bung oak (appar. not akin to book)]

—Related forms
beechen, adjective
beechy, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
beech       (bēch)  Pronunciation Key 


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n.  
    1. A deciduous tree of the genus Fagus having smooth gray bark, alternate simple leaves, and three-angled nuts enclosed in prickly burs. The best-known species are F. grandifolia of eastern North America and the European species F. sylvatica and its numerous cultivated forms.
    2. The wood of any of these trees, used for flooring, containers, plywood, and tool handles.
  2. Any of several other woody plants, as in the genera Carpinus and Nothofagus.


[Middle English beche, from Old English bēce; see bhāgo- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
beech 
O.E. bece, from P.Gmc. *bokjon (cf. O.N. bok, Ger. buche, M.Du. boeke "beech"), from PIE base *bhagos (cf. Gk. phegos "oak," L. fagus "beech," Rus. buzina "elder"), perhaps with a ground sense of "edible" (and connected with the root of Gk. phagein "to eat;" see -phagous). Beech mast was an ancient food source for agricultural animals across a wide stretch of Europe. See book.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
beech

noun
1. any of several large deciduous trees with rounded spreading crowns and smooth grey bark and small sweet edible triangular nuts enclosed in burs; north temperate regions 
2. wood of any of various beech trees; used for flooring and containers and plywood and tool handles 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

Beech Bluff, TN Zip code(s): 38313

Beech Creek, KY Zip code(s): 42321

Beech Creek, PA (borough, FIPS 4984) Location: 41.07467 N, 77.58604 W
Population (1990): 716 (298 housing units)
Area: 1.4 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 16822

Beech Grove, AR Zip code(s): 72412

Beech Grove, IN (city, FIPS 4204) Location: 39.71500 N, 86.08737 W
Population (1990): 13383 (5757 housing units)
Area: 10.7 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 46107

Beech Island, SC Zip code(s): 29841

Beech Bottom, WV (village, FIPS 5452) Location: 40.22630 N, 80.65205 W
Population (1990): 415 (146 housing units)
Area: 0.2 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)

Beech Mountain, NC (town, FIPS 4512) Location: 36.21076 N, 81.88903 W
Population (1990): 239 (1477 housing units)
Area: 17.2 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)

U.S. Gazetteer, U.S. Census Bureau
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Beech

Beech\, n.; pl. Beeches. [OE. beche, AS. b?ce; akin to D. beuk, OHG. buocha, G. buche, Icel. beyki, Dan. b["o]g, Sw. bok, Russ. buk, L. fagus, Gr. ? oak, ? to eat, Skr. bhaksh; the tree being named originally from the esculent fruit. See Book, and cf. 7th Buck, Buckwheat.] (Bot.) A tree of the genus Fagus.

Note: It grows to a large size, having a smooth bark and thick foliage, and bears an edible triangular nut, of which swine are fond. The Fagus sylvatica is the European species, and the F. ferruginea that of America.

Beech drops (Bot.), a parasitic plant which grows on the roots of beeches (Epiphegus Americana).

Beech marten (Zo["o]l.), the stone marten of Europe (Mustela foina).

Beech mast, the nuts of the beech, esp. as they lie under the trees, in autumn.

Beech oil, oil expressed from the mast or nuts of the beech tree.

Cooper beech, a variety of the European beech with copper-colored, shining leaves.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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