QUEBRACHO

noun Etymology: American Spanish, alteration of quiebracha, from Spanish quiebra it breaks + hacha ax Date: circa 1881 any of several trees of southern South America with hard wood: as, a tree ( Aspidosperma ~ ) of the dogbane family which occurs chiefly in Argentina and Chile and whose dried bark is used as a respiratory sedative in dyspnea and in asthma, a chiefly Argentine tree ( Schinopsis lorentzii ) of the cashew family with dense wood rich in tannins, 2. the wood of a ~, a tannin-rich extract of the Argentine ~ used in tanning leather