tree nut

noun

plural tree nuts

: any of various nuts (see nut entry 1 sense 1b) that grow on trees and that are a common category of allergen

Up to 90 percent of food allergies are caused by just eight things: peanuts, milk, eggs, fish, crustaceans, tree nuts, wheat and soybeans.

—Maryn McKenna

Word History

First Known Use

1906, in the meaning defined above