pine
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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to yearn deeply; suffer with longing; long painfully (often followed byfor ).
to pine for one's home and family.
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to fail gradually in health or vitality from grief, regret, or longing (often followed byaway ).
Separated by their families, the lovers pined away.
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Archaic. to be discontented; fret.
verb (used with object)
noun
noun
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any evergreen resinous coniferous tree of the genus Pinus, of the N hemisphere, with long needle-shaped leaves and brown cones: family Pinaceae See also longleaf pine nut pine pitch pine Scots pine
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any other tree or shrub of the family Pinaceae
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the wood of any of these trees
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any of various similar but unrelated plants, such as ground pine and screw pine
verb
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(intr; often foll by for or an infinitive) to feel great longing or desire; yearn
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to become ill, feeble, or thin through worry, longing, etc
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archaic (tr) to mourn or grieve for
noun
Related Words
See yearn.
Other Word Forms
- pinelike adjective
Etymology
Origin of pine1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English pin(e), pigne, Old English pīntrēow “pine tree,” from Old French pin and Latin pīnus
Origin of pine2
First recorded before 900; Middle English pinen “to torture, torment, inflict pain, be in pain”; Old English pīnian “to torture,” derivative of pīn “torture” ( Middle English pine ), from Late Latin pēna, Latin poena “punishment”; pain
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.