Rules & Regulations of the State of Tennessee
Title 0080 - Department of Agriculture
Subtitle 0080-07 - Forestry
Chapter 0080-07-07 - Native Species Lumber
Section 0080-07-07-.02 - DEFINITIONS

(1) Bow means a deviation flatwise from a straight line drawn from end to end of the piece measured at the point of greatest distance from the straight line.

(2) Check means a separation of the wood that normally occurs across the wood growth rings, usually caused by the drying or seasoning process.

(3) Chip marks means shallow depressions typically caused by shavings getting imbedded in the surface during the planing process.

(4) Cup means a deviation in the face of a piece, from a straight line drawn from edge to edge of the piece across the wide face measured as the point of greatest distance from the straight line.

(5) Hole means holes resulting from insects or sloughing of loose knots.

(6) Incipient decay means the early stage of decay where disintegration of the fibers has begun, and the wood has discolored but has not yet disintegrated to the point that it is significantly softened.

(7) Knot means a portion of a branch or a limb that is overgrown by the tree and has become incorporated into the piece of lumber.

(8) Split means a separation of the wood due to the tearing apart of the wood cells that occurs through the piece to the opposite or an adjacent surface.

(9) Pitch means an accumulation of resinous material, a well-defined accumulation of pitch in a streak.

(10) Pocket means an opening between annual growth rings, developed as the tree grows, that typically contains pitch or bark.

(11) Scant means lumber that is slightly less than the required size.

(12) Shake means lengthwise separation of the wood that occurs commonly between the growth rings.

(13) Slope of grain means the grain of the wood is not parallel to the edge of the piece.

(14) Skips means places in surfaced lumber where the piece has failed to surface cleanly.

(15) Stain means a variation from the natural color of the wood that may result from fungal sapstain or bacterial action, or due to enzymatic oxidation (e.g., sticker stain). Stain does not significantly affect strength. Wood that is "stained" must be sound. If the wood appears to be weakened, it is unsound.

(16) Twist means a deviation flatwise or a combination of flatwise and edgewise, in the form of a curve or spiral measured as the point of distance that the edge of a piece is raised above a flat surface where both edges of the opposite end of the same piece are resting against the same flat surface.

(17) Unsound wood means decay resulting from the attack of wood by wood-destroying fungi that leaves wood in a disintegrated condition indicated by a loss of hardness and color change.

(18) Wane means bark or the absence of wood from any cause except eased edges.

(19) Warp means any deviation from a true or flat plane surface.