sweet gum

or sweet·gum (swēt′gŭm′)

1. Any of several trees of the genus Liquidambar, especially L. styraciflua of North America and Central America, having palmately lobed leaves, prickly round hanging fruit, and wood formerly used to make furniture.

2. The aromatic resin obtained from this tree.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sweet gum

1. (Plants) a North American liquidambar tree, Liquidambar styraciflua, having prickly spherical fruit clusters and fragrant sap: the wood (called satin walnut) is used to make furniture. Compare sour gum

2. (Elements & Compounds) the sap of this tree

Often shortened to: red gum

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sweet′ gum′

1. a tall, aromatic tree, Liquidambarstyraciflua, of the witch hazel family, native to the eastern U.S., with star-shaped leaves and fruits in rounded, burlike clusters.

2. the hard reddish brown wood of this tree, used for making furniture.

3. the amber balsam exuded by this tree, used in perfumes and medicines.

Also called red gum (for defs. 1,2).

[1690–1700, Amer.]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	sweet gum - reddish-brown wood and lumber from heartwood of the sweet gum tree used to make furniture hazelwood, satin walnut, red gum gumwood, gum - wood or lumber from any of various gum trees especially the sweet gum
	2.	sweet gum - aromatic exudate from the sweet gum tree liquidambar American sweet gum, bilsted, Liquidambar styraciflua, sweet gum tree, sweet gum, red gum - a North American tree of the genus Liquidambar having prickly spherical fruit clusters and fragrant sap gum - any of various substances (soluble in water) that exude from certain plants; they are gelatinous when moist but harden on drying
	3.	sweet gum - a North American tree of the genus Liquidambar having prickly spherical fruit clusters and fragrant sap American sweet gum, bilsted, Liquidambar styraciflua, sweet gum tree, red gum genus Liquidambar, Liquidambar - sweet gum liquidambar - any tree of the genus Liquidambar liquidambar, sweet gum - aromatic exudate from the sweet gum tree

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

The upright white hewn studs and freshly planed door and window casings gave it a clean and airy look, especially in the morning, when its timbers were saturated with dew, so that I fancied that by noon some sweet gum would exude from them.

View in context

The taste for sweet gum has become a mainstay in the candy market, accounting for 11% of today's candy sales.

Chewing gum evolves from tree sap to synthetic substitute

Nearby are tulip poplar, beech, sweet gum, maple, white cedars, and other species.

Facing the heat

The event included the planting of three sapling American Sweet Gum trees, in recognition of 3M's US heritage.

3M's new offices officially opened

Liquid Amber is the automaker's seventh exclusive veneer, and it is named after the resin from the American Red Gum tree, which is also known as the American Sweet Gum.

Bentley adds first new wood veneer

LIQUIDAMBAR Sweetgum Liquidambar, or Sweet Gum, is a majestic tree, reaching over 20 metres in height when fully matured.

Branch out; Choose a variety of tree that compliments your plot and enhances its natural beauty

He then visited the Aberfan Memorial Garden and planted a sweet gum tree next to one planted by the Queen in 1997.

50 years on, tears for the lost children of Aberfan; united in grief A NATION MOURNS Prince Charles joins survivors and families of the dead

The shallow drainage ditch that bisected our study site had a 1 m wide band of 4 to 6 m sweet gum (Liquidambar slyraciflua) trees in and next to the ditch, just beyond the plow zone.

Dispersion and temperature-associated orientation of Chinese mantis (Mantodea: Mantidae) egg cases

What I'd long imagined were mature oak groves in the distance turned out to be middle-aged stands of sweet gum. With no abundant food sources, little bedding cover and limited water present, it didn't surprise me that I'd found two small rubs on that entire piece of ground.

Best left alone

The perch site was a sweet gum tree (Liquidambar styraciflua).

Aggressive encounter of a group of blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata) toward a group of scissor-tailed flycatchers (Tyrannus forficatus)