Spruce
[spruːs] or [sprʊs]
Definition
(noun.) any coniferous tree of the genus Picea.
(noun.) light soft moderately strong wood of spruce trees; used especially for timbers and millwork.
Typed by Elbert--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Any coniferous tree of the genus Picea, as the Norway spruce (P. excelsa), and the white and black spruces of America (P. alba and P. nigra), besides several others in the far Northwest. See Picea.
(a.) The wood or timber of the spruce tree.
(a.) Prussia leather; pruce.
(n.) Neat, without elegance or dignity; -- formerly applied to things with a serious meaning; now chiefly applied to persons.
(n.) Sprightly; dashing.
(v. t.) To dress with affected neatness; to trim; to make spruce.
(v. i.) To dress one's self with affected neatness; as, to spruce up.
Inputed by Eleanor
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. Neat (without elegance), trim, nice, trig, line, finical, smart, jaunty, natty, foppish, dandyish.
v. n. Prink, dress finically.
v. a. Trim, deck, dress.
Inputed by Erma
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Neat, finical, trim, smug, tidy, smart, foppish, dandified, jaunty
ANT:Slovenly, untidy, untrim, disorderly
Inputed by Brenda
Definition
adj. smart: neat dapper: over-fastidious finical.—n. Prussian leather.—v.t. to smarten.—v.i. to become spruce or smart.—n. Spruce′-fir or merely Spruce any tree of the genus Picea of the pine family (Conifer) or the wood of such a tree.—adv. Spruce′ly.—n. Spruce′ness.—v.t. Spru′cify to smarten.
Typed by Gordon
Examples
- They were not unlike birds, altogether; having a sharp, brisk, sudden manner, and a little short, spruce way of adjusting themselves, like canaries. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- He lived in chambers in the Albany, did Fledgeby, and maintained a spruce appearance. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- The original chewing gum was spruce gum, the exudation of the cut branches of the spruce or fir tree. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- At 33 feet the ball passes through 10? inches of spruce, at 490 through 5 inches, and its extreme range is 3,000 feet, or more than half a mile. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- The district selected for lighting was the area--nearly a square mile in extent--included between Wall, Nassau, Spruce, and Ferry Streets, Peck Slip and the East River in New York City. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- The larger ropes used by them, two inches in diameter, were made from the fibrous roots of the spruce. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- They arrived, the carriage turned, the step was let down, and Mr. Elton, spruce, black, and smiling, was with them instantly. Jane Austen. Emma.
Typed by Barack