Definition: heath

Source: WordNet (r) 1.7

heath
     n 1: a low evergreen shrub of the family Ericaceae; has small
          bell-shaped pink or purple flowers
     2: (British) a tract of level wasteland; uncultivated land with
        sandy soil and scrubby vegetation [syn: heathland]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Heath \Heath\, n. [OE. heth waste land, the plant heath, AS.
   h??; akin to D. & G. heide, Icel. hei?r waste land, Dan.
   hede, Sw. hed, Goth. haipi field, L. bucetum a cow pasture;
   cf. W. coed a wood, Skr. ksh?tra field. [root]20.]
   1. (Bot.)
      (a) A low shrub (Erica, or Calluna, vulgaris), with
          minute evergreen leaves, and handsome clusters of pink
          flowers. It is used in Great Britain for brooms,
          thatch, beds for the poor, and for heating ovens. It
          is also called heather, and ling.
      (b) Also, any species of the genus Erica, of which
          several are European, and many more are South African,
          some of great beauty. See Illust. of Heather.

   2. A place overgrown with heath; any cheerless tract of
      country overgrown with shrubs or coarse herbage.

            Their stately growth, though bare, Stands on the
            blasted heath.                        --Milton

   Heath cock (Zo["o]l.), the blackcock. See Heath grouse
      (below).

   Heath grass (Bot.), a kind of perennial grass, of the genus
      Triodia (T. decumbens), growing on dry heaths.

   Heath grouse, or Heath game (Zo["o]l.), a European grouse
      (Tetrao tetrix), which inhabits heats; -- called also
      black game, black grouse, heath poult, heath fowl,
      moor fowl. The male is called, heath cock, and
      blackcock; the female, heath hen, and gray hen.

   Heath hen. (Zo["o]l.) See Heath grouse (above).

   Heath pea (bot.), a species of bitter vetch (Lathyris
      macrorhizus), the tubers of which are eaten, and in
      Scotland are used to flavor whisky.

   Heath throstle (Zo["o]l.), a European thrush which
      frequents heaths; the ring ouzel.

Source: U.S. Gazetteer (1990)

Heath, AL (town, FIPS 33904)
  Location: 31.35510 N, 86.46688 W
  Population (1990): 182 (88 housing units)
  Area: 2.2 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Heath, MA
  Zip code(s): 01346
Heath, OH (city, FIPS 34748)
  Location: 40.02687 N, 82.43735 W
  Population (1990): 7231 (2884 housing units)
  Area: 23.0 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
  Zip code(s): 43056
Heath, TX (city, FIPS 32984)
  Location: 32.84777 N, 96.47801 W
  Population (1990): 2108 (800 housing units)
  Area: 17.1 sq km (land), 0.1 sq km (water)
  Zip code(s): 75087

Source: Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

Heath
   Heb. 'arar, (Jer. 17:6; 48:6), a species of juniper called by
   the Arabs by the same name ('arar), the Juniperus sabina or
   savin. "Its gloomy, stunted appearance, with its scale-like
   leaves pressed close to its gnarled stem, and cropped close by
   the wild goats, as it clings to the rocks about Petra, gives
   great force to the contrast suggested by the prophet, between
   him that trusteth in man, naked and destitute, and the man that
   trusteth in the Lord, flourishing as a tree planted by the
   waters" (Tristram, Natural History of the Bible).