cord wood

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Cord \Cord\ (k[^o]rd), n. [F. corde, L. chorda catgut, chord, cord, fr. Gr. chordh`; cf. chola`des intestines, L. haruspex soothsayer (inspector of entrails), Icel. g["o]rn, pl. garnir gut, and E. yarn. Cf. Chord, Yarn.]

1.A string, or small rope, composed of several strands twisted together. [1913 Webster]

2.A solid measure, equivalent to 128 cubic feet; a pile of wood, or other coarse material, eight feet long, four feet high, and four feet broad; -- originally measured with a cord or line. [1913 Webster]

3.Fig.: Any moral influence by which persons are caught, held, or drawn, as if by a cord; an enticement; as, the cords of the wicked; the cords of sin; the cords of vanity. [1913 Webster]

The knots that tangle human creeds, The wounding cords that bind and strain The heart until it bleeds.— Tennyson.[1913 Webster]

4.(Anat.) Any structure having the appearance of a cord, esp. a tendon or a nerve. See under Spermatic, Spinal, Umbilical, Vocal. [1913 Webster]

5.(Mus.) See Chord. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

Cord wood, wood for fuel cut to the length of four feet (when of full measure). [1913 Webster]