Illustration of live oak
- live oak a
: any of several American evergreen oaks: such as
a
: a medium-sized oak (Quercus virginiana) of southeastern North America often cultivated as a shelter and shade tree and noted for its extremely hard tough durable wood
b
: any of several oaks of the western U.S. with evergreen foliage and hard durable wood
Examples of live oak in a Sentence
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The trail, parallel to Wildcat Canyon Creek, heads southwest along a flat path shaded by tall coast live oak trees for about half a mile.
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Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Oct. 2025
How far away from a house should a large shade tree be planted (red oak, live oak, cedar elm, pistachio, etc.)?
—Neil Sperry, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 19 Sep. 2025
The fox squirrel, sitting upright on a piece of driftwood with a pecan in its paws, took me back to a long sweep of the lower Suwannee with limpid black waters, forests of pine and magnolia trees, live oaks, and wild pecans.
—Charles Elliott, Outdoor Life, 21 Aug. 2025
Towering live oaks, cedars, and palmettos once grew near the shore here, but as the Atlantic’s erosive forces carved the bluffs away, the trees tumbled down and were weathered by sun and salt into pale, bleached skeletons.
—Skye Sherman, Southern Living, 9 Aug. 2025
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Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Oct. 2025
How far away from a house should a large shade tree be planted (red oak, live oak, cedar elm, pistachio, etc.)?
—Neil Sperry, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 19 Sep. 2025
The fox squirrel, sitting upright on a piece of driftwood with a pecan in its paws, took me back to a long sweep of the lower Suwannee with limpid black waters, forests of pine and magnolia trees, live oaks, and wild pecans.
—Charles Elliott, Outdoor Life, 21 Aug. 2025
Towering live oaks, cedars, and palmettos once grew near the shore here, but as the Atlantic’s erosive forces carved the bluffs away, the trees tumbled down and were weathered by sun and salt into pale, bleached skeletons.
—Skye Sherman, Southern Living, 9 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for live oak
Cite this Entry
“Live oak.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/live%20oak. Accessed 18 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
live oak
noun
: any of several American oaks with evergreen leaves and hard durable wood
especially
: one of the southeastern U.S. that is grown for its shelter and shade and formerly much used in building ships
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