Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Wooden?

\Wood"en\, a. 1. Made or consisting of wood; pertaining to, or resembling, wood; as, a wooden box; a wooden leg; a wooden wedding. 2. Clumsy; awkward; ungainly; stiff; spiritless. When a bold man is out of countenance, he makes a very wooden figure on it. --Collier. His singing was, I confess, a little wooden. --G. MacDonald. {Wooden spoon}. (a) (Cambridge University, Eng.) The last junior optime who takes a university degree, -- denoting one who is only fit to stay at home and stir porridge. ``We submit that a wooden spoon of our day would not be justified in calling Galileo and Napier blockheads because they never heard of the differential calculus.'' --Macaulay. (b) In some American colleges, the lowest appointee of the junior year; sometimes, one especially popular in his class, without reference to scholarship. Formerly, it was a custom for classmates to present to this person a wooden spoon with formal ceremonies. {Wooden ware}, a general name for buckets, bowls, and other articles of domestic use, made of wood. {Wooden wedding}. See under {Wedding}.