hedgewood

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/ˈhɛdʒwʊd/
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Wood connected with hedges, either the rare historical name for wood from a hedgerow or a regional name for Osage orange wood in the central United States.
Practice using this word in conversation

Examples

  • Dry hedgewood burns very hot, so it is handled carefully as fuel.
  • Around the farm, hedgewood meant the yellow wood of Osage orange.
  • The note distinguishes hedgewood from the living hedge itself.
  • By winter, the trimmings had dried into usable hedgewood.
  • After laying the hedge, the cut hedgewood was stacked beside the lane.

Similar words

underwood
hedgerow wood
bois d’arc
hedge apple wood
hedge
bow wood
brushwood
Osage orange wood
kindling
bodark

Meanings

Wood from a hedge

noun
rural life
archaic
Wood that grows in a hedge or is cut from its trees and shrubs, especially in older rural writing.

Usage

Use hedgewood for wood from or in a hedge. In ordinary modern writing, hedge, hedgerow, brushwood, or firewood will usually be clearer.

Examples

  • The old estate account lists hedgewood with other rough fuel.
  • After laying the hedge, the cut hedgewood was stacked beside the lane.
  • Only a historical glossary is likely to call that pile hedgewood.
  • The note distinguishes hedgewood from the living hedge itself.
  • By winter, the trimmings had dried into usable hedgewood.

Common mistakes

The word is often mistaken for a fence or for the living hedge itself.
IncorrectCorrect
The garden is surrounded by hedgewood. The garden is surrounded by a hedge.
They installed a new hedgewood around the yard. They installed a new wooden fence around the yard.
Hedgewood is a common modern word for any wooden barrier. Hedgewood is a rare word for wood from or in a hedge.

Similar words

hedgerow wood
brushwood
underwood
firewood
kindling
cuttings

Osage orange wood

noun
woodworking
informal
In parts of the central United States, the hard yellow wood of the Osage orange tree, a tree long planted as living hedge and later valued for durable posts, bows, turnings, and fuel.

Usage

Use hedgewood regionally when the context makes Osage orange clear. Outside that context, Osage orange wood is safer and more precise.

Examples

  • Around the farm, hedgewood meant the yellow wood of Osage orange.
  • The old hedgewood posts were still sound after decades in the ground.
  • Dry hedgewood burns very hot, so it is handled carefully as fuel.
  • The turner saved a dense piece of hedgewood for tool handles.
  • In that county, a load of hedgewood usually came from hedge trees.

Common mistakes

The regional sense is easily overextended to any hedge trimming or any hard firewood.
IncorrectCorrect
Any branches from a hedge are hedgewood. In this regional sense, hedgewood is Osage orange wood.
Hedgewood is a soft pine used for temporary posts. Hedgewood is dense Osage orange wood, often valued for durable posts.
The hedgewood fruit made good lumber. The Osage orange tree gives hedgewood, while the fruit is called a hedge apple or hedge ball.

Similar words

Osage orange wood
bois d’arc
bodark
hedge
hedge apple wood
bow wood

Usage

Treat hedgewood as context-bound. Historical writing may mean wood from a hedgerow, while rural US woodworking or firewood talk may mean Osage orange wood.

Common mistakes

Using hedgewood as a normal word for a fence is misleading, because the useful senses point to wood, not to the barrier itself.

Etymology

Formed in English from hedge and wood. The Oxford English Dictionary records hedge-wood as a noun, and USDA NRCS records hedge as an alternate name for Osage orange, whose wood became associated with living fences and durable fence posts.

FAQ

What does hedgewood mean?

Hedgewood can mean wood from a hedge in older writing, or regionally the wood of the Osage orange tree.

Is hedgewood a fence?

No. A fence is the barrier itself. Hedgewood refers to wood connected with a hedge or, regionally, Osage orange wood.

Why can hedgewood mean Osage orange wood?

Osage orange is also called hedge in USDA sources because it was widely planted as a living fence, so its wood can be called hedgewood in regional use.

Is hedgewood common today?

No. In most contexts, hedgerow wood, brushwood, or Osage orange wood will be clearer.

How is hedgewood different from hedgerow?

A hedgerow is the line of shrubs or trees. Hedgewood is the wood from that growth or, in the US regional sense, Osage orange wood.

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