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    Oak — definition & meaning




    WordTypeDefinition
    Oak n. Any tree or shrub of the genus Quercus. The oaks have
    alternate leaves, often variously lobed, and staminate flowers in
    catkins. The fruit is a smooth nut, called an acorn, which is more or
    less inclosed in a scaly involucre called the cup or cupule. There are
    now recognized about three hundred species, of which nearly fifty occur
    in the United States, the rest in Europe, Asia, and the other parts of
    North America, a very few barely reaching the northern parts of South
    America and Africa. Many of the oaks form forest trees of grand
    proportions and live many centuries. The wood is usually hard and
    tough, and provided with conspicuous medullary rays, forming the silver
    grain.



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