touch wood or (N American) knock on wood or knock wood

To touch something wooden as a superstitious act to guard against bad luck (also used as an interjection to accompany the gesture or as a substitute for it)

wood¹ /wŭd/

noun

1. The hard substance composing the trunks and branches of trees and shrubs, xylem
2. Trees cut or sawn, timber
3. A kind of timber or wood
4. Firewood
5. (often in pl) a collection of more or less densely growing trees
6. A stretch of country supporting such growth
7. A tree (obsolete)
8. The Cross (obsolete)
9. The cask or barrel as storage for wine, etc, as distinguished from the bottle
10. A woodblock (printing)
11. (commonly in pl) the woodwind instruments of an orchestra
12. A golf club with a bulky head, traditionally made of wood though now usually of metal, used for hitting the ball long distances
13. A bowl (bowls)
14. The outer rim of a tennis racquet if, as traditionally, of wood
15. An idol made of wood
16. The pulpit (old slang)

adjective

Made of or using wood

transitive verb

1. (chiefly in pap) to cover with trees
2. To supply or load (a ship) with wood

intransitive verb

To take in a supply of wood (sometimes with up)

woodˈed adjective

1. Covered with trees
2. Supplied with wood

wooden adjective see separate entry

woodˈless adjective

Without wood

woodˈlessness noun

woodˈsy /wŭd-zi/ adjective (N Am inf)

Characteristic of or relating to woods

woody adjective see separate entry

wood acid noun

Wood vinegar

wood alcohol noun

Wood spirit

wood anemone noun

Any anemone growing in woods, esp Anemone nemorosa, which has a single whorl of leaves and a white flower

wood ant noun

1. A large forest-dwelling ant
2. A termite infesting the wood of old buildings

wood ash noun

(often in pl) ash obtained by burning wood or plants, a source of potassium salts

woodˈblock noun

1. A die cut in relief on wood and ready to produce ink impressions
2. A woodcut

woodˈ-borer noun

Any of a number of insect larvae, molluscs or Crustacea, that bore into wood

woodˈ-boring adjective

woodˈ-born adjective

Born in the woods

woodˈcarver noun

woodˈcarving noun

1. The process of carving in wood
2. An object or decoration carved in wood

woodˈchat noun

A species of shrike, with black-and-white plumage but a red-brown crown

woodˈchip noun

1. A chip of wood
2. Woodchip board or paper

woodchip board noun

Reconstituted wooden board, chipboard

woodchip paper noun

Paper for decorating walls, etc, incorporating chips of wood for texture

wood coal noun

1. Coal like wood in texture, lignite or brown coal
2. Charcoal

woodˈcock noun

1. A genus (Scolopax) of birds related to the snipes, but bulkier in the body and shorter and stronger in the leg
2. A stupid person, a simpleton (archaic)

woodˈcock's-head noun (obsolete)

A tobacco pipe

woodˈcraft noun

1. Skill in working or carving wood
2. Skill in hunting and everything relating to life in the woods
3. Forestry generally

woodˈcut noun

1. A design for printing incised into the surface of a block of wood cut along the grain
2. An impression taken from this

woodˈcutter noun

1. Someone who fells trees and cuts wood
2. A maker of woodcuts

woodˈcutting noun

wood duck noun

A N American duck (Aix sponsa) that nests in tree cavities, a popular game bird

wood engraver noun

1. A maker of wood engravings
2. Any of certain beetles that make a pattern of furrows in the wood of trees

wood engraving noun

1. A design for printing, incised into the surface of a block of hard wood cut across the grain
2. An impression taken from this
3. The art of cutting such designs

woodˈ-evil noun

Diarrhoea of herbivorous animals

wood fibre noun

A thick-walled, elongated, dead element found in wood, developed by the elongation and lignification of the wall of a single cell, differing from a tracheide in its inability to conduct water

wood flour or woodˈmeal noun

A fine powder, made from sawdust and wood waste, used as a filler in many industries, in the manufacture of guncotton and dynamite, and as an absorbent in surgical dressings

woodˈ-fretter noun

A wood-borer

wood germander noun

Teucrium scorodonia, which has racemes of yellow flowers

woodˈgrouse noun

The capercailzie

wood hedgehog noun

An edible fungus (Hydnum repandum) with spines under the cap

woodˈhole noun

A place where wood is stored

wood honey noun

Wild honey

woodˈhorse noun

A sawhorse

woodˈhouse noun

1. A house or shed in which wood for fuel is deposited
2. A variant of woodwose

wood hyacinth noun

The wild hyacinth or English bluebell, of the genus Endymion (or Scilla)

wood ibis noun

Any bird of the genera Mycteria (or Tantalus) and Ibis of the subfamily Mycteriinae of storks

woodˈland noun

(also in pl) land covered with wood (also adjective)

woodˈlander noun

An inhabitant of woodland

woodˈlark noun

A species of lark that perches on trees but sings chiefly on the wing

wood lot noun

A piece of land reserved entirely for the growing of timber

woodˈlouse noun (pl woodˈlice)

1. Any of numerous isopod crustaceans of family Oniscidae, found in damp places, under stones and bark, in woodwork, among moss, etc
2. A booklouse
3. A termite (US)

woodˈman noun

1. A man who fells trees for timber
2. A person with administrative responsibility for a forest (historical)
3. A huntsman

woodmeal see wood flour above.

wood mite noun

Any of numerous small mites found in woods

woodˈmouse noun

A type of fieldmouse, Apodemus sylvaticus, with large ears and a long tail

wood naphtha noun

Wood spirit, methanol

wood nightshade another name for woody nightshade (qv under woody).

woodˈnote noun (Milton)

A wild musical note, like that of a songbird

wood nymph noun

A nymph of the woods

woodˈ-offering noun (Bible)

Wood burned on the altar

wood oil noun

1. Gurjun balsam
2. Tung oil
3. Also various other oils obtained from trees

wood opal noun

A form of common opal which has replaced pieces of wood entombed as fossils in sediments, in some cases retaining the original structure

wood owl noun

The European brown or tawny owl, or other owl living in woods

wood paper noun

Paper made from wood pulp

woodˈpecker noun

Any of a family (Picidae) of birds in the order Picariae, remarkable for modification of the skull and bill enabling the latter to be used to drill holes, and for the long flexible tongue, used to extract insects from crevices

wood pigeon noun

1. The ringdove, a common species of pigeon (Columba palumbus) living in woods
2. In New Zealand, the kuku (qv)

woodˈpile noun

A pile of wood, esp firewood

wood pulp noun

Wood mechanically or chemically pulped for paper-making

woodˈrat noun

Another name for the pack-rat (see under pack¹)

woodˈreeve noun

The overseer of a wood

woodˈrush noun

Any plant of the genus Luzula, of the same family as the true rushes, growing in woods

wood sage noun

Wood germander

wood sandpiper noun

A common European sandpiper

wood sanicle see sanicle

woodˈscrew noun

A tapered screw for fastening pieces of wood or wood and metal, etc

woodˈshed noun

1. A shed for storing firewood (something nasty in the woodshed (facetious) an unpleasant or shocking experience from one's past, esp if kept hushed up)
2. An intensive, esp private, practice or rehearsal (music sl; orig US)

transitive verb and intransitive verb

To practise (a piece of music), esp intensively and alone

woodˈshedding noun

1. Such intensive practice
2. Spontaneous barber-shop singing

woodˈshock noun

A large N American marten with dark-brown fur

woodˈshrike noun

The woodchat (qv above)

woodˈskin noun

A Native American canoe made of bark, or the bark itself

woodsˈman noun

1. Someone familiar with the lore of the woods
2. A forester or woodcutter
3. A huntsman

wood sorrel noun

Any plant of the genus Oxalis, esp O. acetosella, with trifoliate leaves and white or rose-tinted flowers, which yields potassium binoxalate, KHC₂O₄.H₂O

wood spirit noun

1. A spirit living among trees
2. Methyl alcohol, wood naphtha or methanol

woodˈspite noun

The green woodpecker

wood stamp noun

A stamp made of wood, as for stamping fabrics in colours

woodˈstone noun

Petrified wood

wood sugar noun

Xylose

wood swallow noun

Any of the fly-catching Artamidae, also called swallow-shrikes, the resemblance to shrikes being more fundamental than that to swallows

wood tar noun

A product of destructive distillation of wood, containing paraffins, naphthalene and phenols

woodˈthrush noun

1. A thrush common in the woods of the eastern United States, with a reddish-brown head and back, olive rump, and spotted breast
2. Locally in Britain, the missel thrush or the song thrush

wood tick noun

Any tick of the family Ixodidae, the young of which are transferred to man and animals from bushes

wood tin noun

A botryoidal or reniform variety of the tin ore cassiterite showing a concentric structure of radiating brown, wood-like fibres

wood vinegar noun

Crude acetic acid obtained from wood, pyroligneous acid

wood warbler noun

1. A yellowish-green European warbler, Phylloscopus sibilatrix
2. Any bird of the genera Dendroica, Vermivora, etc of the American family Parulidae

woodˈward noun

An officer who guards or has charge of the woods

wood wasp noun

A large hymenopterous insect (genus Sirex) that bores wood with its ovipositor, the horntail

woodˈwax or woodˈwaxen noun

Dyer's greenweed

woodˈwind noun

1. Any orchestral wind instrument other than the brass instruments, made, or formerly made, of wood, some now being made of metals such as silver, including the flute, oboe, bassoon, clarinet, etc
2. The section of an orchestra comprising these collectively

wood wool noun

Fine wood shavings

wood-wool slabs plural noun

Slabs made from long wood shavings with a cementing material, used for linings, partitions, etc

woodˈwork noun

1. The wooden parts of any structure (crawl out of the woodwork to put in an unwelcome appearance after a period of absence)
2. Carpentry or joinery
3. Goalposts, etc (football, etc; informal)

woodˈworker noun

A craftsman or worker in wood

woodˈworm noun

1. The larva of any of several beetles, that bores into wood
2. The diseased condition of wood affected by this creature

wood wren noun

1. The willow warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus)
2. The wood warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix)

woodˈyard noun

A yard in which wood is cut and stored

Commissioners of Woods and Forests

A department (1810–1924) having charge of the Crown woods and forests

not see the wood for the trees

To fail to grasp the whole because of the superabundance of, or one's over-concentration on, detail

out of the wood or woods

Out of difficulty or danger

touch wood see under touch