Acorn
['eɪkɔːn] or ['ekɔrn]
Definition
(noun.) fruit of the oak tree: a smooth thin-walled nut in a woody cup-shaped base.
Checked by Jacques--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The fruit of the oak, being an oval nut growing in a woody cup or cupule.
(n.) A cone-shaped piece of wood on the point of the spindle above the vane, on the mast-head.
(n.) See Acorn-shell.
Checked by Basil
Definition
n. the seed or fruit of the oak.—adj. A′corned.—n. A′corn-shell a name for the Balănus (L. acorn) a genus of Cirripedes in the class Crustacea.
Edited by Helen
Unserious Contents or Definition
Seeing acorns in dreams, is portent of pleasant things ahead, and much gain is to be expected. To pick them from the ground, foretells success after weary labors. For a woman to eat them, denotes that she will rise from a station of labor to a position of ease and pleasure. To shake them from the trees, denotes that you will rapidly attain your wishes in business or love. To see green-growing acorns, or to see them scattered over the ground, affairs will change for the better. Decayed or blasted acorns have import of disappointments and reverses. To pull them green from the trees, you will injure your interests by haste and indiscretion.
Edited by Barrett
Examples
- At this period the stems were hexagonal, ending in an acorn, a bird or a ball, while the bowls were fig shape. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- I haven't heard Frank laugh so much for ever so long, said Grace to Amy, as they sat discussing dolls and making tea sets out of the acorn cups. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- An acorn costs nothing; but it may sprout into a prodigious bit of timber. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Mr. Bell would have had it keep still at exchanging wild-beast skins for acorns. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- He had for food hazel-nuts, beech-nuts, sweet chestnuts, earth-nuts, and acorns. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- I guess the princess gave him a posy, and opened the gate after a while, said Laurie, smiling to himself, as he threw acorns at his tutor. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- My food is not that of man; I do not destroy the lamb and the kid, to glut my appetite; acorns and berries afford me sufficient nourishment. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- Food, however, became scarce; and I often spent the whole day searching in vain for a few acorns to assuage the pangs of hunger. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
Edited by Charlene