noun
California evergreen having a fruit resembling a nutmeg but with a strong turpentine flavor
• Syn: ↑nutmeg-yew, ↑Torreya californica
• Hypernyms: ↑yew
• Member Holonyms: ↑Torreya, ↑genus Torreya
* * *
nounUsage: usually capitalized C
: a California evergreen tree (Torreya californica) having a fleshy fruit resembling a nutmeg but with a strong turpentine flavor
* * *
a tall, pungently aromatic California evergreen tree, Torreya californica, of the yew family, having a fissured, gray-brown bark and small, purple-streaked, green fruit.
[1905-10, Amer.]
Useful english dictionary. 2012.