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. 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

²

/ 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 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. an archaic word for gallows
8. archaic.
   the cross on which Christ was crucified
9. at the top of the tree
   in the highest position of a profession, etc
10. up a tree informal.
    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

/ 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

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

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

Expected to be one of the strongest storms in the northwest US in decades, the bomb cyclone knocked out power and downed trees across the region, on November 20, 2024.

From Salon

"Previous research has shown depression, anxiety, obesity and heatstroke are more prevalent in urban areas that lack access to shady tree canopy and green open spaces," said Croeser, from RMIT's Centre for Urban Research.

From Science Daily

Projects by Israeli nonprofits to introduce this species and other non-native trees, in other words, may not be conducive to their stated mission of "making the desert bloom."

From Salon

“So, like the Gulf depends on oil, and the Americans on business, our economy is dependent on the olive tree.”

From BBC

Wind gusts could bring power outages, downed trees and high surf along the coastline, the US weather agency said, which issued a "high risk excessive rainfall outlook" for northwest California.

From BBC

Related Words

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