[AS.] The solid part of trees; trees cut down and sawn into boards. The wood used in the construction of houses is chiefly obtained from pine and from fir trees, the wood of both being called pine-wood. When sawn into boards it is known as deal ; when split into thin narrow strips, it forms laths. The wood should be seasoned or thoroughly dried by exposure to the air for one or two years after the tree has been cut down. For making furniture, hard woods, such as oak, maple, cedar, ebony, walnut, mahogany, and rosewood, are used. The two latter are often cut into very thin slices, called veneers, which are then glued on the surface of beech or some other cheap wood and made into furniture. Besides its importance in building and the manufacture of furniture, wood is necessary as fuel, and is greatly used in countries covered with forests where coal is not easily obtained. The toughest wood is pig-nut hickory ; next, white oak and white ash. (See Lumbering.)