A small tree native to the southern United States that produces hard, durable wood, also called the Osage orange or hedge apple.
From Osage (Native American language) bod or bwa, the Native American name for the tree. The word entered English through trade and settlement in the American South and Southwest.
Bodock wood is so hard it resists decay for decades—settlers used it for fence posts that could last a century, and Native Americans made bows from it because of its strength and flexibility.
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