Also see definition of "tree" in Bible Study Dictionaries
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CIDE DICTIONARY
OXFORD DICTIONARY
DEVIL DICTIONARY
THESAURUS
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tree
CIDE DICTIONARY
tree, n. [OE. tree, tre, treo, AS. treó, treów, tree, wood; akin to OFries. tr, OS. treo, trio, Icel. tr, Dan. træ, Sw. trä, träd, Goth. triu, Russ. drevo, W. derw an oak, Ir. darag, darog, Gr. dry^s a tree, oak, do`ry a beam, spear shaft, spear, Skr. dru tree, wood, dāru wood. Dryad, Germander, Tar, n. , Trough.].
- Any perennial woody plant of considerable size (usually over twenty feet high) and growing with a single trunk. [1913 Webster]" The kind of tree referred to, in any particular case, is often indicated by a modifying word; as forest
tree , fruittree , palmtree , appletree , peartree , etc." [1913 Webster] - Something constructed in the form of, or considered as resembling, a tree, consisting of a stem, or stock, and branches; as, a genealogical tree. [1913 Webster]
- A piece of timber, or something commonly made of timber; -- used in composition, as in axletree, boottree, chesstree, crosstree, whiffletree, and the like. [1913 Webster]
- A cross or gallows; as Tyburn tree. [1913 Webster]"[Jesus] whom they slew and hanged on a tree." [1913 Webster]
- Wood; timber. Chaucer. [1913 Webster]"In a great house ben not only vessels of gold and of silver but also of tree and of earth." [1913 Webster]
- A mass of crystals, aggregated in arborescent forms, obtained by precipitation of a metal from solution. See
Lead tree , under Lead. [1913 Webster]
tree, v. t.
- To drive to a tree; to cause to ascend a tree; as, a dog trees a squirrel. J. Burroughs. [1913 Webster]
- To place upon a tree; to fit with a tree; to stretch upon a tree; as, to tree a boot. See Tree,
n. , 3. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
tree, n. & v.
1 a a perennial plant with a woody self-supporting main stem or trunk when mature and usu. unbranched for some distance above the ground (cf. SHRUB(1)). b any similar plant having a tall erect usu. single stem, e.g. palm tree.
2 a piece or frame of wood etc. for various purposes (shoe-tree).
3 archaic or poet. a a gibbet. b a cross, esp. the one used for Christ's crucifixion.
4 (in full tree diagram) Math. a diagram with a structure of branching connecting lines.
5 = family tree.
--v.tr.
1 force to take refuge in a tree.
2 esp. US put into a difficult position.
3 stretch on a shoe-tree.
1 a a perennial plant with a woody self-supporting main stem or trunk when mature and usu. unbranched for some distance above the ground (cf. SHRUB(1)). b any similar plant having a tall erect usu. single stem, e.g. palm tree.
2 a piece or frame of wood etc. for various purposes (shoe-tree).
3 archaic or poet. a a gibbet. b a cross, esp. the one used for Christ's crucifixion.
4 (in full tree diagram) Math. a diagram with a structure of branching connecting lines.
5 = family tree.
--v.tr.
1 force to take refuge in a tree.
2 esp. US put into a difficult position.
3 stretch on a shoe-tree.
Idiom
grow on trees (usu. with neg.) be plentiful. tree agate agate with treelike markings. tree calf a calf binding for books stained with a treelike design. tree-fern a large fern, esp. of the family Cyatheaceae, with an upright trunklike stem. tree frog any arboreal tailless amphibian, esp. of the family Hylidae, climbing by means of adhesive discs on its digits. tree hopper any insect of the family Membracidae, living in trees. tree house a structure in a tree for children to play in. tree line = TIMBERLINE. tree of heaven an ornamental Asian tree, Ailanthus altissima, with evil-smelling flowers. tree of knowledge the branches of knowledge as a whole. tree of life = ARBOR VITAE. tree ring a ring in a cross section of a tree, from one year's growth. tree shrew any small insect-eating arboreal mammal of the family Tupaiidae having a pointed nose and bushy tail. tree sparrow
1 Brit. a sparrow, Passer montanus, inhabiting woodland areas.
2 US a N. American finch, Spizella arborea, inhabiting grassland areas. tree surgeon a person who treats decayed trees in order to preserve them. tree surgery the art or practice of such treatment. tree toad = tree frog. tree tomato a South American shrub, Cyphomandra betacea, with egg-shaped red fruit. tree-trunk the trunk of a tree. up a tree esp. US cornered; nonplussed.
1 Brit. a sparrow, Passer montanus, inhabiting woodland areas.
2 US a N. American finch, Spizella arborea, inhabiting grassland areas. tree surgeon a person who treats decayed trees in order to preserve them. tree surgery the art or practice of such treatment. tree toad = tree frog. tree tomato a South American shrub, Cyphomandra betacea, with egg-shaped red fruit. tree-trunk the trunk of a tree. up a tree esp. US cornered; nonplussed.
Derivative
treeless adj. treelessness n. tree-like adj.
Etymology
OE treow f. Gmc
DEVIL DICTIONARY
tree
n. A tall vegetable intended by nature to serve as a penal apparatus, though through a miscarriage of justice most trees bear only a negligible fruit, or none at all. When naturally fruited, the tree is a beneficient agency of civilization and an important factor in public morals. In the stern West and the sensitive South its fruit (white and black respectively) though not eaten, is agreeable to the public taste and, though not exported, profitable to the general welfare. That the legitimate relation of the tree to justice was no discovery of Judge Lynch (who, indeed, conceded it no primacy over the lamp-post and the bridge-girder) is made plain by the following passage from Morryster, who antedated him by two centuries:
While in yt londe I was carried to see ye Ghogo tree, whereof
I had hearde moch talk; but sayynge yt I saw naught remarkabyll in
it, ye hed manne of ye villayge where it grewe made answer as
followeth:
"Ye tree is not nowe in fruite, but in his seasonne you shall
see dependynge fr. his braunches all soch as have affroynted ye
King his Majesty."
And I was furder tolde yt ye worde "Ghogo" sygnifyeth in yr
tong ye same as "rapscal" in our owne.
_Trauvells in ye Easte_
THESAURUS
tree
Stammbaum, acacia, ailanthus, alder, alligator pear, allspice, almond, apple, apricot, ash, aspen, avocado, ax, balsa, balsam, banyan, bare pole, basswood, bay, bayberry, beech, betel palm, birch, block, bottle up, buckeye, butternut, buttonwood, cacao, candleberry, cashew, cassia, catalpa, cherry, chestnut, chinquapin, cinnamon, citron, clove, coconut, collar, conifer, cork oak, corner, cross, cypress, death chair, death chamber, dogwood, drop, ebony, elder, electric chair, elm, eucalyptus, evergreen, family tree, fig, fir, frankincense, fruit tree, gallows, gallows-tree, gas chamber, genealogical tree, genealogy, gibbet, grapefruit, guava, guillotine, gum, halter, hardwood tree, hawthorn, hazel, hemlock, hemp, hempen collar, henna, hickory, holly, hop tree, horse chestnut, hot seat, ironwood, juniper, kumquat, laburnum, lancewood, larch, laurel, lemon, lethal chamber, lime, linden, litchi, litchi nut, locust, logwood, magnolia, mahogany, maiden, mango, mangrove, maple, mast, medlar, mountain ash, mulberry, noose, nutmeg, oak, olive, orange, palm, papaw, papaya, peach, pear, pecan, pedigree, persimmon, pine, pistachio, plane, plum, pole, pollard, pomegranate, poplar, quince, raffia palm, rain tree, redwood, rope, sandalwood, sapling, sassafras, scaffold, seedling, senna, sequoia, shade tree, softwood tree, spar, spruce, stake, stemma, stick, sycamore, tangerine, teak, the chair, timber, timber tree, tulip tree, walnut, willow, witch hazel, yewROGET THESAURUS
tree
Paternity
N paternity, parentage, consanguinity, parent, father, sire, dad, papa, paterfamilias, abba, genitor, progenitor, procreator, ancestor, grandsire, grandfather, great- grandfather, fathership, fatherhood, mabap, house, stem, trunk, tree, stock, stirps, pedigree, lineage, line, family, tribe, sept, race, clan, genealogy, descent, extraction, birth, ancestry, forefathers, forbears, patriarchs, motherhood, maternity, mother, dam, mamma, materfamilias, grandmother, paternal, parental, maternal, family, ancestral, linear, patriarchal, avi numerantur avorum, happy he with such a mother, hombre bueno no le busquen abolengo, philosophia stemma non inspicit.Scourge
N scourge, rod, cane, stick, ratan, rattan, birch, birch rod, azote, blacksnake, bullwhack, chicote, kurbash, quirt, rawhide, sjambok, rod in pickle, switch, ferule, cudgel, truncheon, whip, bullwhip, lash, strap, thong, cowhide, knout, cat, cat o'nine tails, rope's end, pillory, stocks, whipping post, cucking stool, ducking stool, brank, trebuchet, trebuket, triangle, wooden horse, iron maiden, thumbscrew, boot, rack, wheel, iron heel, chinese water torture, treadmill, crank, galleys, scaffold, block, ax, guillotine, stake, cross, gallows, gibbet, tree, drop, noose, rope, halter, bowstring, death chair, electric chair, gas chamber, lethal injection, firing squad, mecate, house of correction, goaler, jailer, executioner, electrocutioner, lyncher, hangman, headsman, Jack Ketch.Vegetable
N vegetable, vegetable kingdom, flora, verdure, plant, tree, shrub, bush, creeper, herb, herbage, grass, annual, perennial, biennial, triennial, exotic, timber, forest, wood, woodlands, timberland, hurst, frith, holt, weald, park, chase, greenwood, brake, grove, copse, coppice, bocage, tope, clump of trees, thicket, spinet, spinney, underwood, brushwood, scrub, boscage, bosk, ceja, chaparal, motte, arboretum, bush, jungle, prairie, heath, heather, fern, bracken, furze, gorse, whin, grass, turf, pasture, pasturage, turbary, sedge, rush, weed, fungus, mushroom, toadstool, lichen, moss, conferva, mold, growth, alfalfa, alfilaria, banyan, blow, blowth, floret, petiole, pin grass, timothy, yam, yew, zinnia, foliage, branch, bough, ramage, stem, tigella, spray, leaf, flower, blossom, bine, flowering plant, timber tree, fruit tree, pulse, legume, vegetable, vegetal, vegetive, vegitous, herbaceous, herbal, botanic, sylvan, silvan, arborary, arboreous, arborescent, arborical, woody, grassy, verdant, verdurous, floral, mossy, lignous, ligneous, wooden, leguminous, vosky, cespitose, turf-like, turfy, endogenous, exogenous, green-robed senators of mighty woods, this is the forest primeval.Also see definition of "tree" in Bible Study Dictionaries
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