sweet gum

noun

Definition of sweet gum

1 : a North American tree (Liquidambar styraciflua) of the witch-hazel family with palmately lobed glossy green leaves, corky twigs, a round spiny brown fruit cluster, and hard wood

2 : the smooth reddish-brown wood of the sweet gum

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Recent Examples of sweet gum from the Web

Graceful river birch and sweet gum trees frame the house.

— sally a. downey, Philly.com, "In Lower Gwynedd, a renovated bungalow to grow old in," 5 Feb. 2018
Also, most sweet gums and sycamores sustain minimal damage.

— tom maccubbin, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Hurricane Irma: Old trees can be hazardous to your home," 7 Sep. 2017
My durable tree list includes live oaks, sweet gums, crape myrtles, magnolias, sycamores, ligustrums, winged elms, bald cypress and most palms.

— tom maccubbin, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Hurricane Irma recovery: Uprooted trees a common occurrence after storms," 22 Sep. 2017
The canister burst during the decontamination process after Apollo 14 returned to Earth, mixing the hundreds of redwood, pine, sycamore, Douglas fir and sweet gum seeds.

— emre kelly, USA TODAY, "Irma topples NASA's 'Moon Tree' that flew on Apollo 14," 21 Sep. 2017

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

Illustration of sweet gum

First Known Use of sweet gum

1700

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

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Medical Dictionary

sweet gum

noun

medical Definition of sweet gum

: a North American tree of the genus Liquidambar (L. styraciflua) with a round spiny brown fruit cluster and an inner bark that is the source of American storax