Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A small holly tree (Ilex cassine) chiefly of the southeast United States, having bright red berries and leathery, dark green leaves.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A small evergreen tree, Ilex Dahoon, of the southern United States, allied to the holly, and sometimes called the dahoon holly. The wood is white and soft, but close-grained.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • An evergreen shrub or small tree (Ilex cassine) of the southern United States, bearing red drupes and having soft, white, close-grained wood; -- called also dahoon holly.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Origin unknown.]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word dahoon.

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • (n): evergreen shrub or small holly species in the American South. Also dahoon holly.

    January 9, 2009

  • "... and where the sun poked through, thick grass sparng up knee-high and the prickly leaves of dahoon caught at him as he passed."

    —Diana Gabaldon, The Fiery Cross (NY: Bantam Dell, 2001), 1039

    January 29, 2010