Spruce

Definition of Spruce

Pronunciation: sprųst
n.1.(Bot.) 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.
2.The wood or timber of the spruce tree.
3.Prussia leather; pruce.
Spruce, a sort of leather corruptly so called for Prussia leather.
- E. Phillips.
Douglas spruce
(Bot.) a valuable timber tree (Pseudotsuga Douglasii) of Northwestern America.
Essence of spruce
a thick, dark-colored, bitterish, and acidulous liquid made by evaporating a decoction of the young branches of spruce.
Hemlock spruce
(Bot.) a graceful coniferous tree (Tsuga Canadensis) of North America. Its timber is valuable, and the bark is largely used in tanning leather.
Spruce beer
A kind of beer which is tinctured or flavored with spruce, either by means of the extract or by decoction.
Spruce grouse
(Zool.) Same as Spruce partridge, below.
Spruce leather
See Spruce, n., 3.
Spruce partridge
(Zool.) a handsome American grouse (Dendragapus Canadensis) found in Canada and the Northern United States; - called also Canada grouse.
a.1.Neat, without elegance or dignity; smart; trim; - formerly applied to things with a serious meaning; now chiefly applied to persons.
2.Sprightly; dashing.
He is so spruce that he can never be genteel.
- Tatler.
v. t.1.To dress with affected neatness; to trim; to make spruce; - often used with up; as, to spruce up the house for Company.
[imp. & p. p. Spruced (sprųst); p. pr. & vb. n. Sprucing (sprų"sĭng).]
v. i.1.To dress one's self with affected neatness; as, to spruce up.

Related Words

anal, bandbox, bowdlerized, braw, chic, classy, clean up, cleaned, cleaned up, cleansed, clothes-conscious, cosmopolitan, dapper, dashing, dinky, doggy, dressed to advantage, dressed to kill, dressed up, elegant, en grande tenue, endimanche, expurgated, exquisite, genteel, gussied up, in full dress, in full feather, in high feather, in tails, jaunty, modish, natty, nifty, nobby, posh, primp, purged, purified, recherche, refined, reformed, ritzy, sassy, sharp, shipshape, sleek, slick, slicked up, smart, smarten up, smug, snazzy, snug, soigne, soignee, sophisticated, spiffy, spruce up, straighten out, straighten up, style-conscious, stylish, swank, swanky, swell, tidy, tidy up, tight, titivate, tricksy, trig, well turned-out, well-cared-for, well-dressed, well-groomed
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Springlet
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-Spruce-
Spruce beer
Spruce grouse
Spruce leather
Spruce partridge
Sprue
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