sour gum
noun
a tree, Nyssa sylvatica, of eastern North America, having elliptic leaves, dark-blue, berrylike fruit, and wood with a variety of commercial uses.
Origin of sour gum
1An Americanism dating back to 1775–85
- Also called black gum, beetlebung, pepperidge.
- Compare tupelo.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use sour gum in a sentence
The autumn days ran out and in the depth of the southern woods, here and there, the black gums and sweet gums began to flame.
Sons and Fathers | Harry Stillwell EdwardsThe red and black gums are perhaps the simplest of the hardwoods in structure.
Seasoning of Wood | Joseph B. Wagner
British Dictionary definitions for sour gum
sour gum
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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