/bam booh"/ , n. , pl. bamboos .
1. any of the woody or treelike tropical and semitropical grasses of the genera Bambusa, Phyllostachys, Dendrocalamus, and allied genera, having woody, usually hollow stems with stalked blades and flowering only after years of growth.
2. the stem of such a plant, used as a building material and for making furniture, poles, etc.
[ 1590-1600; sp. var. of earlier bambu bambu, bombu a large, hollow bam-boo (or directly bambus bamboes; cf. NL bambusa ]