The Collaborative International Dictionary
Chestnut \Chest"nut\, n. [For chesten-nut; OE. chestein, chesten, chastein, chestnut, fr. AS. cisten in cistenbe['a]m chestnut tree, influenced by OF. chastaigne, F. ch[^a]taigne, both the AS. and the F. words coming from L. castanea a chestnut, Gr. ?, fr. ? a city of Pontus, where chestnut trees grew in abundance, and whence they were introduced into Europe. Cf. Castanets.]
(Bot.) The edible nut of a forest tree ( Castanea vesce) of Europe and America. Commonly two or more of the nuts grow in a prickly bur.
The tree itself, or its light, coarse-grained timber, used for ornamental work, furniture, etc.
A bright brown color, like that of the nut.
The horse chestnut (often so used in England).
One of the round, or oval, horny plates on the inner sides of the legs of the horse, and allied animals.
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An old joke or story. [Slang]
Chestnut tree, a tree that bears chestnuts.
Wiktionary
n. A tree that bears chestnuts; a tree of the genus ''Castanea''
WordNet
n. any of several attractive deciduous trees yellow-brown in autumn; yield a hard wood and edible nuts in a prickly bur [syn: chestnut]
Usage examples of "chestnut tree".
They had begun it there, under the drooping branches of a huge horse-chestnut tree, that had sheltered them from the noise and light of a nearby tavern.
Looking out of the window one evening, Helen saw them coming up the drive hysterical with laughter, as Billy pretended to lift his leg on every chestnut tree.
He reined the horses in under a chestnut tree, and swung down, offering me a hand.
She put on a new and becoming T-shirt, and lots of lipstick and scent before she left, then stayed away for two hours reading Billboard and The Face under a chestnut tree.
The thatch was so low that it tickled the top of her head, and she saw the dew glittering on the grass, and the two thrushes carolling away in the chestnut tree the sweet mistiness of a perfect spring morning.
For an instant it seemed he was standing under that chestnut tree again, watching the tiny body sink down into the earth.
The flowers of the chestnut tree flare up: by their white light she can see his face, the skin greyish, half-toned.
The back door led into a sizeable garden, at the end of which was a large chestnut tree.
The moon watched like an accusing eye as Arkoniel placed his cursed burden at the foot of the chestnut tree and mouthed, forgive me once more.
The roots of the chestnut tree were sunk in the ground just under my bench.
In recreation period the two of them stood aloof under the same chestnut tree.
A large, mature chestnut tree had fallen either just before or during the forest fire and its root bole held the trunk up off the ground.
And then -- perhaps it was not happening, perhaps it was only a memory taking on the semblance of sound -- a voice was singing: 'Under the spreading chestnut tree I sold you and you sold me ' The tears welled up in his eyes.