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Synonyms

birch

American  
[burch] / bɜrtʃ /

noun

  1. any tree or shrub of the genus Betula, comprising species with a smooth, laminated outer bark and close-grained wood.

  2. the wood itself.

  3. a birch rod, or a bundle of birch twigs, used especially for whipping.

adjective

  1. birchen.

verb (used with object)

  1. to beat or punish with or as if with a birch.

    The young ruffians were birched soundly by their teacher.
birch British  
/ bɜːtʃ /

noun

  1. any betulaceous tree or shrub of the genus Betula, having thin peeling bark See also silver birch

  2. the hard close-grained wood of any of these trees

  3. a bundle of birch twigs or a birch rod used, esp formerly, for flogging offenders

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. of, relating to, or belonging to the birch

  2. consisting or made of birch

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. (tr) to flog with a birch

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • birchen adjective

Etymology

Origin of birch

before 900; Middle English birche, Old English birce; cognate with Old High German birka ( German Birke ); akin to Sanskrit bhūrja kind of birch

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.