balm of gilead

1. 1.

   medium-sized fir of northeastern North America; leaves smell of balsam when crushed; much used for pulpwood and Christmas trees

   Synonymsbalsam firCanada balsamAbies balsamea

   Broadersilver fir
2. 2.

   a fragrant oleoresin

   Broaderbalm
3. 3.

   small evergreen tree of Africa and Asia; leaves have a strong aromatic odor when bruised

   SynonymsCommiphora meccanensis

   Broaderincense tree

   Part ofCommiphora

Questions about balm of gilead

What does balm of gilead mean?

balm of gilead means "medium-sized fir of northeastern North America; leaves smell of balsam when crushed; much used for pulpwood and Christmas trees". That is the primary sense; the word has 3 in total, listed in full on this page.

What is another word for balm of gilead?

Close synonyms include balsam fir, Canada balsam, Abies balsamea, Commiphora meccanensis. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is balm of gilead a common word?

balm of gilead is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.