Entry: ailanthus (n.)
In context: "Joelle v.D. in her terry robe and gauze veil and still clutching a toothbrush has climbed out onto the little balcony outside the 5-Woman's window and into a skinny ailanthus beside it..."
Definition: More fully ailanthus tree. Any of several fast-growing, pinnate-leaved trees constituting the chiefly East Asian genus Ailanthus (family Simaroubaceae); esp. the tree of heaven, A. altissima, native to China and now naturalized in parts of Europe and North America, where it has been widely planted as a shade tree and for ornament but is now considered invasive. Also (in form Ailanthus): the genus itself.
Other: Relevant pictures can be found on the Wikipedia page.
SNOOT score: 1
Page: 614
Source: Oxford English Dictionary
Definitive Jest is a vocabulary-building and SNOOT-approved word-of-the-day blog centered around David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest.
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