[ noun ] small nut of either of two small chestnut trees of the southern United States; resembles a hazelnut <noun.food>
Chinquapin \Chin"qua*pin\, n. (Bot.) A branching, nut-bearing tree or shrub ({Castanea pumila}) of North America, from six to twenty feet high, allied to the chestnut. Also, its small, sweet, edible nat. [Written also {chincapin} and {chinkapin}.]
{Chinquapin oak}, a small shrubby oak ({Quercus prinoides}) of the Atlantic States, with edible acorns.
{Western Chinquapin}, an evergreen shrub or tree ({Castanopes chrysophylla}) of the Pacific coast. In California it is a shrub; in Oregon a tree 30 to 125 feet high.