- something, esp dry wood or fungus material such as amadou, used as tinder
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
touch•wood
(tuch′wŏŏd′),USA pronunciation n.
- wood converted into an easily ignitible substance by the action of certain fungi, and used as tinder;
punk. - [Mycol.]amadou.
- touch + wood1 1570–80
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
touchwood /ˈtʌtʃˌwʊd/ n
wood1 /wʊd/USA pronunciation
n.
adj. [before a noun]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Botanythe hard, fiberlike substance that makes up most of the stem and branches of a tree or shrub beneath the bark: [uncountable]fine, hard wood.[countable]different hard woods.
- [uncountable] timber or lumber.
- [uncountable] firewood.
- Often, woods. [plural] a thick growth of trees;
forest:[countable]a wood in the valley. - Sport[countable] any of a set of four golf clubs that originally had wooden heads.
adj. [before a noun]
- made of wood;
wooden. - used to store, work with, or carry wood.
- dwelling or growing in woods.
- Idioms out of the woods, no longer in a dangerous, critical, or difficult situation or condition;
safe:The country is not out of the woods yet; a worse crisis awaits us.
wood1
(wŏŏd),USA pronunciation n.
adj.
v.t.
v.i.
wood′less, adj.
wood2 (wŏŏd),USA pronunciation adj. [Archaic.]
Wood (wŏŏd),USA pronunciation n.
- the hard, fibrous substance composing most of the stem and branches of a tree or shrub, and lying beneath the bark;
the xylem. - the trunks or main stems of trees as suitable for architectural and other purposes;
timber or lumber. - firewood.
- Winethe cask, barrel, or keg, as distinguished from the bottle:aged in the wood.
- Fine ArtSee wood block (def. 1).
- Music and Dance
- a woodwind instrument.
- the section of a band or orchestra composed of woodwinds.
- Often, woods. (used with a sing. or pl. v.) a large and thick collection of growing trees;
a grove or forest:They picnicked in the woods. - Sport[Golf.]a club with a wooden head, as a driver, brassie, spoon, or baffy for hitting long shots. Cf. iron (def. 5).
- British Terms have the wood on, [Australian Slang.]to have an advantage over or have information that can be used against.
- Idioms knock on wood, (used when knocking on something wooden to assure continued good luck):The car's still in good shape, knock on wood.Also, esp. Brit., touch wood.
- out of the woods:
- out of a dangerous, perplexing, or difficult situation;
secure;
safe. - no longer in precarious health or critical condition;
out of danger and recovering.
- out of a dangerous, perplexing, or difficult situation;
adj.
- made of wood;
wooden. - used to store, work, or carry wood:a wood chisel.
- dwelling or growing in woods:wood bird.
v.t.
- to cover or plant with trees.
- to supply with wood;
get supplies of wood for.
v.i.
- to take in or get supplies of wood (often fol. by up):to wood up before the approach of winter.
- bef. 900; Middle English; Old English wudu, earlier widu; cognate with Old Norse vithr, Old High German witu, Old Irish fid
- 7. See forest.
wood2 (wŏŏd),USA pronunciation adj. [Archaic.]
- wild, as with rage or excitement.
- mad;
insane.
- bef. 900; Middle English; Old English wōd; cognate with Old Norse ōthr; akin to German Wut rage, Old English wōth song
Wood (wŏŏd),USA pronunciation n.
- Biographical Grant, 1892–1942, U.S. painter.
- Biographical Leonard, 1860–1927, U.S. military doctor and political administrator.
'touchwood' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):