tree

¹

[ tree ]

noun

1. a plant having a permanently woody main stem or trunk, ordinarily growing to a considerable height, and usually developing branches at some distance from the ground.
2. any of various shrubs, bushes, and plants, as the banana, resembling a tree in form and size.
3. something resembling a tree in shape, as a clothes tree or a crosstree.
4. Mathematics, Linguistics. tree diagram.
5. family tree.
6. a pole, post, beam, bar, handle, or the like, as one forming part of some structure.
7. a shoetree or boot tree.
8. a saddletree.
9. a treelike group of crystals, as one forming in an electrolytic cell.
10. a gallows or gibbet.
11. the cross on which Christ was crucified.
12. Computers. a data structure organized like a tree whose nodes store data elements and whose branches represent pointers to other nodes in the tree.
13. Christmas tree.

verb (used with object)

, treed, tree·ing.

1. to drive into or up a tree, as a pursued animal or person.
2. Informal. to put into a difficult position.
3. to stretch or shape on a tree, as a boot.
4. to furnish (a structure) with a tree.

Tree

²

[ tree ]

noun

1. Sir Herbert Beer·bohm [beer, -bohm], Herbert Beerbohm, 1853–1917, English actor and theater manager; brother of Max Beerbohm.

tree

¹

/ triː /

noun

1. any large woody perennial plant with a distinct trunk giving rise to branches or leaves at some distance from the ground arboreal
2. any plant that resembles this but has a trunk not made of wood, such as a palm tree
3. a wooden post, bar, etc
4. See saddletree, shoetree, family tree
   See family tree shoetree saddletree
5. chem a treelike crystal growth; dendrite
6. 1. a branching diagrammatic representation of something, such as the grammatical structure of a sentence
   2. ( as modifier )

      a tree diagram

7. See gallows
   an archaic word for gallows
8. archaic.
   the cross on which Christ was crucified
9. at the top of the tree
   at the top of the tree in the highest position of a profession, etc
10. up a tree informal.
    up a tree in a difficult situation; trapped or stumped

verb

1. to drive or force up a tree
2. to shape or stretch (a shoe) on a shoetree

Tree

²

/ triː /

noun

1. TreeSir Herbert Beerbohm18531917MEnglishTHEATRE: actorTHEATRE: theatre manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm . 1853–1917, English actor and theatre manager; half-brother of Sir Max Beerbohm. He was noted for his lavish productions of Shakespeare

tree

/ trē /

1. Any of a wide variety of perennial plants typically having a single woody stem, and usually branches and leaves. Many species of both gymnosperms (notably the conifers) and angiosperms grow in the form of trees. The ancient forests of the Devonian, Mississippian, and Pennsylvanian periods of the Paleozoic Era were dominated by trees belonging to groups of seedless plants such as the lycophytes. The strength and height of trees are made possible by the supportive conductive tissue known as vascular tissue .

Derived Forms

• ˈtreelessness, noun
• ˈtreeˌlike, adjective
• ˈtreeless, adjective

Other Words From

• treelike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tree¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English trēo(w); cognate with Old Frisian, Old Norse trē, Old Saxon treo, Gothic triu; akin to Greek drŷs “oak,” Sanskrit, Avestan dru “wood”

Word History and Origins

Origin of tree¹

Old English trēo ; related to Old Frisian, Old Norse trē , Old Saxon trio , Gothic triu , Greek doru wood, drus tree

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. up a tree, Informal. in a difficult or embarrassing situation; at a loss; stumped.

More idioms and phrases containing tree

see bark up the wrong tree ; can't see the forest for the trees ; talk someone's arm off (the bark off a tree) ; up a tree .

Example Sentences

These trees grow right along the coastline, their long, stilt-like roots stretching down into the water.

From Science News For Students

That’s nearly two-thirds of the state’s 33 million acres of forests and trees, and six times the area that has burned so far this year.

From MIT Technology Review

Untie the rock, work the cord down the length of the branch until it’s at least five feet from the tree, and then tie one end to your food sack.

From Popular-Science

Instead, Reed Hastings thinks of it as a tree — but not in the way you might think.

From Freakonomics

The phones in the trees contain the Flex app and are synched with other phones belonging to the drivers.

From Fortune

Plenty of Jewish kids today grow up with a Christmas tree next to their menorah.

From The Daily Beast

His most recommended plant was tree ivy—its juices sprayed up the nostrils.

From The Daily Beast

Bohac vowed to that when he came back next year there would be no confusion about any Christmas tree or Santa aprons.

From The Daily Beast

If you Google “Muslim Christmas tree star” you will see a list of right-wing websites wetting their pants over this.

From The Daily Beast

Civilians left flowers as well as a tiny frosted Christmas tree that had two red ornaments.

From The Daily Beast

This tiny person spent little or none of his time in the tree-tops, but chose to stay near the ground.

From Project Gutenberg

Each tiny tree was a plume of leaves; the rows stretched out to the hilltop, and over.

From Project Gutenberg

Wide and straight, well made and tree-lined throughout, it supplied the two great arteries of Indian life.

From Project Gutenberg

I saw every crook in the fence, every rut in the road, every bush and tree long before we came to it.

From Project Gutenberg

It was supposed by many on its discovery to grow like the engraving given—in form resembling a tree or shrub rather than an herb.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• forest
• sapling
• seedling
• shrub
• timber
• wood