Bamboo Definition

băm-bo͝o
bamboos
noun
Any of various usually woody, temperate or tropical plants chiefly of the genera Arundinaria, Bambusa, Dendrocalamus, Phyllostachys, or Sasa in the grass family. Certain species of bamboo can reach heights of 20 to 30 meters (66 to 98 feet).
American Heritage
Any of a number of semitropical or tropical grasses (subfamily Bambusoideae) often resembling trees, with perennial, jointed stems that are woody, hard, springy, and often hollow and sometimes grow to a height of c. 36 m (c. 120 feet): the stems are used in light construction and for furniture, canes, etc., and the young shoots of some species are eaten.
Webster's New World
The hard or woody, jointed, often hollow stems of these plants, used in construction and to make various kinds of utensils.
American Heritage
Fabric or yarn manufactured from these plants.
American Heritage

A grass of the Poaceae family, characterised by its woody, hollow, round, straight, jointed stem, all of which are in the Bambuseae tribe.

Wiktionary
adjective
Of bamboo.
Webster's New World
Made of bamboo stems.
Webster's New World
Made of the wood of the bamboo.
Wiktionary
verb

To flog with a bamboo cane.

Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Bamboo

Noun

Singular:
bamboo
Plural:
bamboos

Origin of Bamboo

  • From Dutch bamboe, from Portuguese bambu, from Malay bambu, from Kannada ಬಮ್ಬು (bambu).

    From Wiktionary

  • Back-formation from earlier bambos (taken as pl.) from Dutch bamboes of Malay or Dravidian origin

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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