Woody describes something that's made of wood, feels like wood, or contains a lot of wood. A woody plant has stems that are hard and bark-covered, like a tree or shrub, rather than soft and green like grass or a daisy. Scientists call these plants woody perennials because their stems stay alive year after year instead of dying back to the ground.

You might notice a woody smell in a forest, which comes from tree bark, fallen branches, and dry leaves. Some wines develop woody flavors when they're aged in wooden barrels. A woody texture feels hard and fibrous, like biting into an old carrot that's been in the refrigerator too long.

The word can also describe an area: a woody hillside is one covered with trees and shrubs rather than grass or bare rock. When botanists distinguish between herbaceous plants (soft-stemmed like tomatoes) and woody plants (hard-stemmed like apple trees), they're describing one of nature's fundamental differences. That rose bush in your garden is woody, which is why you need strong clippers to prune it, while your basil plant is herbaceous, and you can pinch off its stems with your fingers.