Word for the day: wood

wood |wʊd|                                                                    *madera (en Español)

DEFINITION

noun

1 [ mass noun ] the hard fibrous material that forms the main substance of the trunk or branches of a tree or shrub, used for fuel or timber: a block of wood | [ count noun ] : best quality woods were used for joinery.• (the wood) wooden barrels used for storing alcoholic drinks: wines from the wood .• [ count noun ] a golf club with a wooden or other head that is relatively broad from face to back (often with a numeral indicating the degree to which the face is angled to loft the ball).• [ count noun ] Golf a shot made with a wood.• another term for bowl2 ( sense 1 of the noun).2 (also woods )an area of land, smaller than a forest, that is covered with growing trees: a thick hedge divided the wood from the field | a long walk in the woods.

PHRASESbe unable to see the wood (or N. Amer. the forest ) for the trees fail to grasp the main issue because of over-attention to details.out of the wood (or woods ) [ usu. with negative ] out of danger or difficulty.touch (or chiefly N. Amer. knock on ) wood said in order to prevent a confident statement from bringing bad luck: I haven't been banned yet, touch wood.[with reference to the custom of touching something wooden to ward off bad luck.]
DERIVATIVESwoodless adjective
ORIGIN Old English wudu, from a Germanic word related to Welsh gwŷdd ‘trees’.

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