growth ring

noun

Definition of growth ring

: a layer of wood (such as an annual ring) produced during a single period of growth

Examples of growth ring in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Unlike trees such as redwoods and oaks, baobabs can’t simply be aged by counting their growth rings; as the trees grow, their rings fade or are erased, and their giant interior cavities make the remaining traces difficult to count. — National Geographic, "Africa's Oldest Trees Are Dying, and Scientists Are Stumped," 11 June 2018 Certain types including oak show cellular-level damage when swamped, and which is visible in the trees’ growth rings, providing an annual record of when the river overflowed. — Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, "Taming the Mighty Mississippi May Have Caused Bigger Floods," 10 Apr. 2018 Inundate an oak tree for a couple weeks and that year’s growth ring will show damage at the cellular level. — Adam Rogers, WIRED, "Too Much Engineering Has Made Mississippi River Floods Worse," 4 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'growth ring.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near growth ring

growth potential

growth regulator

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The first known use of growth ring was in 1907

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