chestnut Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun wood of any of various chestnut trees of the genus Castanea
  2. noun any of several attractive deciduous trees yellow-brown in autumn; yield a hard wood and edible nuts in a prickly bur
    chestnut tree.
  3. noun edible nut of any of various chestnut trees of the genus Castanea
  4. noun the brown color of chestnuts
  5. noun a small horny callus on the inner surface of a horse's leg
  6. noun a dark golden-brown or reddish-brown horse
  7. adjective satellite (of hair or feathers) of a golden brown to reddish brown color
    • a chestnut horse
    • chestnut hair

WordNet

Chest"nut noun
Etymology
For chesten-nut; OE. chestein, chesten, chastein, chestnut, fr. AS. cisten in cistenbeám chestnut tree, influenced by OF. chastaigne, F. châtaigne, both the AS. and the F. words coming from L. castanea a chestnut, Gr. , fr. a city of Pontus, where chestnut trees grew in abundance, and whence they were introduced into Europe. Cf. Castanets.
Definitions
  1. (Bot.) The edible nut of a forest tree (Castanea vesce) of Europe and America. Commonly two or more of the nuts grow in a prickly bur.
  2. The tree itself, or its light, coarse-grained timber, used for ornamental work, furniture, etc.
  3. A bright brown color, like that of the nut.
  4. The horse chestnut (often so used in England).
  5. One of the round, or oval, horny plates on the inner sides of the legs of the horse, and allied animals.
  6. An old joke or story. Slang
Chest"nut adjective
Definitions
  1. Of or pertaining of a chestnut; of a reddish brown color; as, chestnut curls.

Webster 1913