hickories

noun pl. hickories

1. any of a genus (Carya) of North American trees of the walnut family, with compound leaves, solid pith, and hard nuts
2. the hard, tough wood of any of these trees
3. a switch or cane as of this wood
4. the nut of any of these trees
   usually hickory nut

Origin: contr. < 17th-c. pohickery (Virginian term) < AmInd term recorded by Captain John Smith as pawcohiccora, product made from crushed kernels of the nut