Definition of agarwood
plural agarwoods
:the soft, dark heartwood that is produced by any of various southeast Asian evergreen trees (genus Aquilaria, especially A. malaccensis synonym A. agallocha) when they become infected with a fungus and that contains a fragrant resin used chiefly to produce incense, perfumes, and traditional medicines
- When the inside of the tree becomes infected (usually by insects), fungus or mold develops and bores into the tree, which attempts to defend itself by creating agarwood, a resinous heartwood; this slows down the infection and makes the surviving wood more durable.
- —Lawrence Osborne, Town & Country, June 2014
- With prices for noncultivated agarwood rising to $10,000 a kilo, few local shopkeepers welcome mere browsers.
- —Jennifer Gampell, New York Times, 20 July 2008
