hazel

n. 1 hedgerow shrub bearing round brown edible nuts. 2 greenish-brown. [old english]

n. A shrub or small tree of the genus Corylus, as the C. avellana, bearing a nut containing a kernel of a mild, farinaceous taste; the filbert. The American species are C. Americana, which produces the common hazelnut, and C. rostrata. See Filbert.