Balata

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Balata \Bal"a*ta\, n. [Sp., prob. fr. native name.]
     1. A West Indian sapotaceous tree ({Bumelia retusa}).
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     2. The bully tree ({Minusops globosa}); also, its milky juice
        ({); also, its milky juice (}), which when dried


        constitutes an elastic gum called {chicle}, or {chicle
        gum}.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  balata
       n 1: when dried yields a hard substance used e.g. in golf balls
            [syn: {gutta balata}]
       2: a hard-wooded tropical tree yielding balata gum and heavy
          red timber [syn: {balata tree}, {beefwood}, {bully tree},
          {Manilkara bidentata}]