hickory Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun valuable tough heavy hardwood from various hickory trees
  2. noun American hardwood tree bearing edible nuts
    hickory tree.

WordNet

Hick"o*ry noun
Etymology
North American Indian pawcohiccora (Capt. J. Smith) a kind of milk or oily liquor pressed from pounded hickory nuts. "Pohickory" is named in a list of Virginia trees, in 1653, and this was finally shortened to "hickory." J. H. Trumbull.
Definitions
  1. (Bot.) An American tree of the genus Carya, of which there are several species. The shagbark is the C. alba, and has a very rough bark; it affords the hickory nut of the markets. The pignut, or brown hickory, is the C. glabra. The swamp hickory is C. amara, having a nut whose shell is very thin and the kernel bitter.

Webster 1913