Hardwood is wood that comes from broadleaf trees, often the kind that lose their leaves each fall. Oak, maple, cherry, and walnut are all hardwoods. Many of these trees grow slowly, which makes their wood dense and durable.

Despite the name, hardwood isn't always harder than softwood (which usually comes from evergreen trees like pine and spruce). Balsa wood, one of the lightest and softest woods around, is technically a hardwood because it comes from a broadleaf tree. But most hardwoods are indeed hard and strong.

Hardwood is prized for furniture, flooring, and cabinets because it lasts for generations and often has beautiful grain patterns. A hardwood dining table might serve a family for fifty years or more. Baseball bats are made from hardwood, especially ash and maple, because they need to withstand the impact of a fastball traveling 90 miles per hour.

In basketball, people call the court a hardwood court because maple hardwood is the traditional material. When announcers say “on the hardwood tonight,” they mean on the basketball court, even if that particular court is made of synthetic material.