kauri

noun

kau·ri | \ ˈkau̇(-ə)r-ē

Definition of kauri

1 : any of various trees (genus Agathis) of the araucaria family especially : a tall timber tree (A. australis) of New Zealand having fine white straight-grained wood

— called also kauri pine

2 : a light-colored to brown resin from the kauri tree found as a fossil in the ground or collected from living trees and used especially in varnishes and linoleum

— called also kauri gum, kauri resin

Examples of kauri in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The trunks of ancient kauri trees indicated that the Laschamp Excursion caused major extinctions. — Rafil Kroll-zaidi, Harper's Magazine, 27 Apr. 2021 Scientists analyzed the rings found in ancient New Zealand kauri trees, some which had been preserved in sediments for more than 40,000 years, to create a timescale of how Earth's atmosphere changed over time. — Amy Woodyatt, CNN, 19 Feb. 2021 In the past decade, a unique strain of phytophthora has been identified as targeting kauri. — Washington Post, 12 Jan. 2020 Somewhere in the middle of New Zealand, there is a kauri tree stump (Agathis australis) that should not be alive. — Kelly Mayes, Science | AAAS, 25 July 2019 Here are five prime suggestions, from a small forest in England to the gigantic kauri trees of New Zealand’s Waipoua Forest. — George Stone, National Geographic, 29 Oct. 2019 Sudden atmospherically driven changes in water relations in adjacent kauri trees were very rapidly and inversely mirrored in the living stump's water status. — Fox News, 26 July 2019

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