horse chestnut
Multiple Entries:horse chestnut chestnut
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
horse chestnut
▶noun
- 1 a deciduous tree with large leaves of five leaflets, upright conical clusters of white, pink, or red flowers, and nuts (conkers) enclosed in a spiny case. [Aesculus hippocastanum and related species.]
- 2 a conker.
– origin C16: translating (now obs.) botanical L. Castanea equina; its fruit is said to have been an Eastern remedy for chest diseases in horses.
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
chestnut/ˈtʃesnʌt/
▶noun
- 1 a glossy hard brown nut which develops within a bristly case and can be roasted and eaten.
- 2 (also chestnut tree, sweet chestnut, or Spanish chestnut) the large tree that produces chestnuts. [Castanea sativa.]
■ used in names of similar nuts, and trees and plants that produce them, e.g. horse chestnut, water chestnut.
- 3 a deep reddish-brown colour.
- 4 a horse of a reddish-brown or yellowish-brown colour.
- 5 a small horny patch on the inside of a horse's leg.
– phrases
an old chestnut a joke, story, or subject that has become uninteresting through constant repetition.
an old chestnut a joke, story, or subject that has become uninteresting through constant repetition.
'horse chestnut' also found in these Oxford entries:
