Word.ws English Dictionary

live oak

US/laɪv oʊk/

live oak noun: an evergreen species of oak characteristic of the US South, southern live oak (Quercus virginiana).

live oak: an evergreen species of oak characteristic of the US South, southern live oak (Quercus virginiana)
Image: Woodlot, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

live oak (plural live oaks)

  1. An evergreen species of oak characteristic of the US South, southern live oak (Quercus virginiana).
    • This was a group of white-shirted, khaki-trousered, suspendered old men who had spent their lives doing nothing and passed their twilight days doing same on pine benches under the live oaks on the square.1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC
  2. Any of several other species of oak with evergreen, usually holly-like, leaves.

Proper noun capitalized: Live Oak

Live Oak

  1. A census-designated place in Santa Cruz County, California, United States.
  2. A city in Sutter County, California, United States.
  3. A city, the county seat of Suwannee County, Florida, United States.
  4. A city in Bexar County, Texas, United States.

Forms of live oak

plurallive oaks
alternative formlive-oak

Origin of live oak

So called because such oaks remain green and "live" throughout winter, when others are dormant and leafless.

Words formed from live oak

  • canyon live oak
  • especially coastal ranges of California
  • coast live oak
  • dwarf live oak
  • interior live oak
  • live-oaker
  • sand live oak
  • shrub live oak
  • Sierra live oak
  • southern live oak
  • Texas live oak

Questions about live oak

What does live oak mean?
Live oak means an evergreen species of oak characteristic of the US South, southern live oak (Quercus virginiana).
What part of speech is live oak?
Live oak can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce live oak?
Live oak is pronounced /laɪv oʊk/ (US).
What is the plural of live oak?
The plural of live oak is live oaks.

Words near live oak in the dictionary

  1. live like a king
  2. live load
  3. live loads
  4. live long and prosper
  5. live not to eat, but eat to live
  6. live oak
  7. Live Oak County
  8. live oaks
  9. live off
  10. live off the country
  11. live off the land

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: live oak (page history and authors); Live Oak (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “live oak.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/live_oak. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.