bird's-eye maple

English

Alternative forms

• birdseye maple, bird's eye maple

Noun

bird's-eye maple (uncountable)

1. Maple wood with small eye-like markings, valued for use in decorative woodwork.
   • 1904, Carolyn Wells, “Shopping”, in Patty at Home, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, →OCLC, page 58:

     So a dear little book-case was bought, also of bird’s-eye maple, and a pretty little work-table, with a low chair to match.

   • 1947 January and February, “South African Royal Train”, in Railway Magazine, page 47:

     The two staterooms are similarly treated; the walls are panelled in bird's eye maple, with light mahogany mouldings, and the furniture is in sycamore and mahogany.

   • 1976, Angela Carter, “My Father's House”, in Shaking a Leg, Vintage, published 2013, page 21:

     More to the point of this place than the crags and glens on the dining-room wall are the two fine colour prints of clipper ships in frames of birdseye maple.