spruce

Definition of spruce

Nouns

light soft moderately strong wood of spruce trees; used especially for timbers and millwork
Type of:
wood
the hard fibrous lignified substance under the bark of trees
any coniferous tree of the genus Picea
Types:
show 10 types...
hide 10 types...
Norway spruce, Picea abies
tall pyramidal spruce native to northern Europe having dark green foliage on spreading branches with pendulous branchlets and long pendulous cones
Brewer's spruce, Picea breweriana, weeping spruce
medium-sized spruce of California and Oregon having pendulous branches
Engelmann spruce, Engelmann's spruce, Picea engelmannii
tall spruce of Rocky Mountains and British Columbia with blue-green needles and acutely conic crown; wood used for rough lumber and boxes
Picea glauca, white spruce
medium-sized spruce of northeastern North America having short blue-green leaves and slender cones
Picea mariana, black spruce, spruce pine
small spruce of boggy areas of northeastern North America having spreading branches with dense foliage; inferior wood
Picea obovata, Siberian spruce
tall spruce of northern Europe and Asia; resembles Norway spruce
Picea sitchensis, Sitka spruce
a large spruce that grows only along the northwestern coast of the United States and Canada; has sharp stiff needles and thin bark; the wood has a high ratio of strength to weight
Picea orientalis, oriental spruce
evergreen tree of the Caucasus and Asia Minor used as an ornamental having pendulous branchlets
Colorado blue spruce, Colorado spruce, Picea pungens, silver spruce
tall spruce with blue-green needles and dense conic crown; older trees become columnar with lower branches sweeping downward
Picea rubens, eastern spruce, red spruce, yellow spruce
medium-sized spruce of eastern North America; chief lumber spruce of the area; source of pulpwood
Type of:
conifer, coniferous tree
any gymnospermous tree or shrub bearing cones

Verbs

make neat, smart, or trim
Synonyms:
slick up, smarten up, spiff up, spruce up, titivate, tittivate
Type of:
beautify, embellish, fancify, prettify
make more beautiful
dress and groom with particular care, as for a special occasion
"He spruced up for the party"
Synonyms:
slick up, smarten up, spruce up
Type of:
groom, neaten
care for one's external appearance

Adjectives

marked by up-to-dateness in dress and manners
Synonyms:
dapper, dashing, jaunty, natty, raffish, rakish, snappy, spiffy
fashionable, stylish
being or in accordance with current social fashions

Vocabulary Lists for spruce

  • abase
  • abash
  • abate
  • abbreviate
  • abdicate

E.B. White's "Charlotte's Web" »(115 words)
Vocabulary study list for E.B. White's "Charlotte's...
  • leftovers
  • crumple
  • swathe
  • snooze
  • gullible

Trees »(1176 words)
  • aalii
  • abatis
  • abstraction
  • aby
  • acacia

Edith Warton's Ethan Frome »(2499 words)
Vocabulary study list from Edith Warton's "Ethan Frome"
  • Hale
  • German ivy
  • matt
  • sleigh
  • flats

Words I didn't know »(427 words)
Taken from the following poems, each of which I love:...
  • acrid
  • acute
  • affix
  • air
  • ala

Words that contain spruce