any juglandaceous tree of the chiefly North American genus Carya, having nuts with edible kernels and hard smooth shells
See also pecan,pignut 1 the hard tough wood of any of these trees
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
hick•o•ry /ˈhɪkəri, ˈhɪkri/USA pronunciation
n., pl. -ries.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Plant Biology[countable] a North American tree of the walnut family.
- [uncountable] the wood of this tree.
hick•o•ry
(hik′ə rē, hik′rē),USA pronunciation n., pl. -ries.
Hick•o•ry (hik′ə rē, hik′rē),USA pronunciation n.
- Plant Biologyany of several North American trees belonging to the genus Carya, of the walnut family, certain species of which bear edible nuts or yield a valuable wood. Cf. pecan, shagbark.
- the wood of any of these trees.
- a switch, stick, etc., of this wood.
- Sport[Baseball Slang.]a baseball bat.
- TextilesAlso called hick′ory cloth′, hick′ory stripe′. a strong fabric of twill construction, used chiefly in the manufacture of work clothes.
- Virginia Algonquian (English spelling, spelled) pocohiquara a milky drink prepared from hickory nuts
- earlier pohickery 1610–20, American.
Hick•o•ry (hik′ə rē, hik′rē),USA pronunciation n.
- Place Namesa city in W North Carolina. 20,757.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'Old Hickory' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):