sweet gum

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noun

a tall, aromatic tree, Liquidambar styraciflua, of the eastern U.S., having star-shaped leaves and fruits in rounded, burlike clusters.

the hard reddish-brown wood of this tree, used for making furniture.

the amber balsam exuded by this tree, used in the manufacture of perfumes and medicines.

Also called red gum (for defs 1, 2).

Origin:
1690–1700, Americanism

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins

World English Dictionary

sweet gum

—n
1.	Compare sour gum a North American liquidambar tree, Liquidambar styraciflua, having prickly spherical fruit clusters and fragrant sap: the wood (called satin walnut) is used to make furniture
2.	the sap of this tree

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10

Sweet gum is always a great word to know.

So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:

a fool or simpleton; ninny.

an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia

sweet gum

any of about four species of flowering plants within the genus Altingia, family Altingiaceae, native to North America and Asia and valued for resin, timber, and ornament.

Learn more about sweet gum with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences

He and his friends had been peacefully roaming in the shaded forest, snapping branches filled with sweet gum.

The forest is characterized by several species of oak, hickory and sweet gum.

The area boasts beautiful mature hardwoods, including cypress, sweet gum and red and water oak.

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Matching Quote

"When I first took up my abode in the woods, that is, began to spend my nights as well as days there, which, by accident, was on Independence Day, or the Fourth of July, 1845, my house was not finished for winter, but was merely a defence against the rain, without plastering or chimney, the walls being of rough, weather-stained boards, with wide chinks, which made it cool at night. The upright white hewn studs and freshly planed door and window casings gave it a clean and airy look, especially in the morning, when its timbers were saturated with dew, so that I fancied that by noon some sweet gum would exude from them. To my imagination it retained throughout the day more or less of this auroral character, reminding me of a certain house on a mountain which I had visited a year before. This was an airy and unplastered cabin, fit to entertain a travelling god, and where a goddess might trail her garments. The winds which passed over my dwelling were such as sweep over the ridges of mountains, bearing the broken strains, or celestial parts only, of terrestrial music. The morning wind forever blows, the poem of creation is uninterrupted; but few are the ears that hear it. Olympus is but the outside of the earth everywhere."

-Henry David Thoreau