down tree

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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Down \Down\, n. [Akin to LG. dune, dun, Icel. d?nn, Sw. dun, Dan. duun, G. daune, cf. D. dons; perh. akin to E. dust.]

1.Fine, soft, hairy outgrowth from the skin or surface of animals or plants, not matted and fleecy like wool; esp.: (a) (Zool.) The soft under feathers of birds. They have short stems with soft rachis and bards and long threadlike barbules, without hooklets. (b) (Bot.) The pubescence of plants; the hairy crown or envelope of the seeds of certain plants, as of the thistle. (c) The soft hair of the face when beginning to appear. [1913 Webster]

And the first down begins to shade his face.— Dryden.[1913 Webster]

2.That which is made of down, as a bed or pillow; that which affords ease and repose, like a bed of down [1913 Webster]

When in the down I sink my head, Sleep, Death's twin brother, times my breath.— Tennyson.[1913 Webster]
Thou bosom softness, down of all my cares!— Southern.[1913 Webster]

Down tree (Bot.), a tree of Central America (Ochroma Lagopus), the seeds of which are enveloped in vegetable wool. [1913 Webster]

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