white poplar

noun

1

a

: a Eurasian poplar (Populus alba) that is widely cultivated and naturalized in the U.S. and has whitish bark and leaves with a white-tomentose lower surface

b

: an aspen (Populus tremuloides) of the U.S. with small leaves and long petioles

2

: the wood of a tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)

Word History

First Known Use

1542, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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