noun, plural hick·o·ries.
- any of several North American trees belonging to the genus Carya, of the walnut family, certain species of which bear edible nuts or yield a valuable wood.Compare pecan, shagbark.
- the wood of any of these trees.
- a switch, stick, etc., of this wood.
- Baseball Slang. a baseball bat.
- Also called hickory cloth, hickory stripe. a strong fabric of twill construction, used chiefly in the manufacture of work clothes.
noun
- a city in W North Carolina.
noun plural -ries
- any juglandaceous tree of the chiefly North American genus Carya, having nuts with edible kernels and hard smooth shellsSee also pecan, pignut (def. 1), bitternut (def. 1), shagbark
- the hard tough wood of any of these trees
- the nut of any of these trees
- a switch or cane made of hickory wood
1670s, American English, from Algonquian (perhaps Powhatan), shortening of pockerchicory or a similar name for this species of walnut. Old Hickory as the nickname of U.S. politician Andrew Jackson is first recorded 1827.