Vinegar tree Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun deciduous shrubby tree or eastern North America with compound leaves that turn brilliant red in fall and dense panicles of greenish yellow flowers followed by crimson acidic berries
    staghorn sumac; velvet sumac; Rhus typhina; Virginian sumac.
  2. noun common nonpoisonous shrub of eastern North America with waxy compound leaves and green paniculate flowers followed by red berries
    smooth sumac; Rhus glabra; scarlet sumac.

WordNet


Definitions
  1. (Bot.), the stag-horn sumac (Rhus typhina), whose acid berries have been used to intensify the sourness of vinegar.

Webster 1913