See Also: tree(dictionary)
Tree(medicine)
gum tree(dictionary)
bay tree(medicine)
til tree(medicine)
tea-tree(dictionary)
ti-tree(dictionary)
tree(2)(dictionary)
tree(encyclopedia)
fir tree(medicine)

tree(1) (iou)



tree noun & adjective. [tri:]
[Old English treo(w) = Old Frisian tre, Old Saxon trio, treo, Old Norse tre, Gothic triu, from Germanic var. of Indo-European base repr. by Sanskrit daru, dru- tree, Greek doru wood, spear, drus tree, oak.]
A. noun.
A woody perennial plant, typically having a single stem or trunk growing to a considerable height and bearing lateral branches at some distance from the ground. Cf. SHRUB noun1 1. OE.
apple tree, fir-tree, oak tree, etc.
J. Buchan A biggish clump of treesfirs mostly, with a few ashes and beeches.
b. More widely, any bush or shrub of erect growth with a single stem. Also, any of certain herbaceous plants, such as the banana, with a very tall but not woody stem. ME.
currant-tree, rose tree, etc.
c. = Christmas tree (a) s.v. CHRISTMAS noun. M19.
Wood, esp. as a material; timber. arch. OE.
A branch or trunk of a tree as shaped for some purpose; a wooden pole, stake, bar, etc., forming part of a structure. Usu. as 2nd elem. of comb., as axle-tree, cross-tree, roof-tree, summer tree, etc. OE.
b. A stick used as a staff or club. obsolete exc. Scot. OE.
a. The cross on which Jesus was crucified. arch. & poet. OE.
b. A gallows. ME.
a. A genealogical tree; fig. a family, a lineage, a stock. ME.
b. Math. & Computing etc. A branching figure or graph in which processes, relationships, etc., are represented by points or nodes joined by lines (also tree diagram); a process, analysis, etc., having this structure; a dendrogram. M19.
a. The wooden shaft of a spear; the handle of an implement. Formerly also, a spear, a lance. Now dial. ME.
b. A wooden structure, esp. a ship. LME-L16.
c. The framework of a saddle, a saddle-tree; a block for keeping a shoe in shape when not worn, a shoe- or boot-tree. L15.
d. A wooden vessel; a barrel, a cask. Scot. E16.
Any natural or artificial structure of branched form; spec. (a) Chemistry a treelike mass of crystals forming from a solution; a dendrite; (b) Anatomy any branching system of vessels, nerves, etc., in the body; (c) Zoology (in full respiratory tree) a branched respiratory organ in the body cavity of holothurians; (d) Oil Industry a valve manifold on the casing of an oil or gas well (= Christmas tree (c) s.v. CHRISTMAS noun). E18.
Phrases: at the top of the tree in the highest rank of a profession etc. bark up the wrong tree: see BARK verb1. Christmas tree: see CHRISTMAS noun. FAMILY-tree. GENEALOGICAL tree. grow on trees be freely or easily obtainable (usu. with neg.). not see the wood for the trees: see WOOD noun1. out of one's tree slang (chiefly N. Amer.) mad, crazy. respiratory tree: see sense 7(c) above. see the wood for the trees: see WOOD noun1. tree of Diana a treelike mass of crystals formed in a solution of silver salts etc. tree of heaven a Chinese ailanthus, Ailanthus altissima, grown as an ornamental tree. tree of Jesse: see JESSE noun1. tree of knowledge (a) the tree in the Garden of Eden bearing the apple eaten by Eve (also tree of the knowledge of good and evil); (b) knowledge in general, comprising all its branches. tree of liberty a tree planted in celebration of a revolution or victory securing liberty. tree of life (a) a tree symbolic of life or immortality, esp. that found in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9); (b) Anatomy = ARBOR VITAE 2; (c) a representation of a tree or shrub used as a motif, esp. in oriental art. triple tree: see TRIPLE adjective & adverb. TYBURN tree. up a tree colloq. (chiefly N. Amer.) unable to escape, in a predicament, in great difficulties (cf. up a gum tree s.v. GUM noun2). wolf tree: see WOLF noun 9.
Comb.: tree agate: bearing treelike markings; tree babbler any of various SE Asian babblers of the genera Stachyris and Malcopteron, which inhabit the ground levels of mature forests; tree-bear US dial. the racoon; tree boa any of several American arboreal boas of the genus Corallus, which have prehensile tails; tree-calf Bookbinding a binding made of calf stained with a treelike design; tree-cat (a) any small arboreal cat; (b) a palm civet; (c) N. Amer. dial. = FISHER 2b; tree civet a palm civet, esp. the African Nandinia binotata; tree-crab the coconut crab; tree cranberry the bush cranberry, Viburnum trilobum; treecreeper (a) any of various small passerine birds of the genus Certhia (family Certhiidae), which have down-curved bills and creep on the trunks and branches of trees; esp. the common C. familiaris of Eurasia and C. americana of North and Central America; (b) any similar bird of the Australian family Climacteridae; (c) = woodcreeper s.v. WOOD noun1 & adjective1; tree cricket any of numerous arboreal crickets constituting the subfamily Oecanthinae; tree-crow = tree pie below; tree cult = tree-worship below; tree daisy = daisy-bush s.v. DAISY noun; tree deity a tree god or goddess; tree diagram: see sense 5b above; tree doctor = tree surgeon below; tree duck = whistling duck s.v. WHISTLING ppl adjective; tree-feeder an animal that feeds on the foliage of trees, or on the insects living on leaves or bark; tree-fern any of various tree-sized tropical or subtropical ferns, esp. of the family Cyatheaceae, bearing a crown of fronds at the top of a stem resembling a tree-trunk; tree fox (a) the grey fox; (b) N. Amer. dial. = FISHER 2b; tree frog an arboreal frog; spec. one of the large family Hylidae, which comprises mainly small species with adhesive discs on the tips of the toes; tree god, tree goddess a god, goddess, supposed to inhabit a tree; a tree which is an object of worship; tree-goose (obsolete exc. Hist.) the barnacle goose; tree heath = BRIER noun2 1; tree hoopoe = wood hoopoe s.v. WOOD noun1 & adjective1; tree hopper any of various mainly tropical homopteran bugs of the family Membracidae, which live chiefly on trees; tree house (a) a house built in a tree for security against enemies; (b) a structure or hut built in a tree for children to play in; tree-hugger colloq. (a) a person who cares for trees or the environment generally; an environmentalist (usu. derog.); (b) a person who adopts a position embracing a tree to prevent it from being felled; tree kangaroo any of several arboreal wallabies constituting the genus Dendrolagus, which are found in New Guinea and tropical Queensland; tree limit, tree line (a) the line or level of altitude or latitude above which no trees grow (cf. snowline s.v. SNOW noun1); (b) a row of trees, the edge of a wood; tree-louse an aphid; tree lupin a shrubby yellow-flowered Californian lupin, Lupinus arboreus, often planted to reclaim sandy land; tree mallow a tall woody-stemmed European mallow, Lavatera arborea, of cliffs and maritime rocks; tree martin an Australian swallow, Hirundo nigricans, which nests in trees; tree medick a shrubby medick, Medicago arborea, native to Greece and Turkey and grown for ornament; tree-moss (a) any of various lichens or mosses growing as epiphytes on trees; (b) any of several clubmosses resembling a miniature tree; esp. fir clubmoss, Huperzia selago; tree mouse any of various arboreal mice, esp. of the genera Dendromus (of Africa) and Pogonomys (of New Guinea); tree network (chiefly Computing) a network having a tree structure; tree onion a variety of onion, Allium cepa var. proliferum, which bears small bulbs as well as flowers in the inflorescence; also called top onion; tree-oyster an oyster found on the roots of mangroves; tree partridge any of various SE Asian partridges of the genera Arborophila and Tropicoperdix, which inhabit forests and scrub; tree peony any of several shrubby peonies, esp. the moutan, Paeonia suffruticosa; tree pie any of several Asian long-tailed arboreal crows of the genus Dendrocitta and related genera; tree pipit a common Old World pipit, Anthus trivialis, which inhabits open country with scattered trees; tree porcupine any of various arboreal porcupines of the genus Coendou, which are found in the forests of Central and S. America and have prehensile tails; tree rat (a) an arboreal rat; (b) W. Indies = HUTIA; (c) colloq. the grey squirrel; tree ring a ring in the cross-section of a tree-trunk, indicating a year's growth; tree-rune a rune of branched or treelike form; treerunner (a) any of several small Central and S. American birds of the genus Margarornis (ovenbird family); (b) Austral. the varied sitella, Neositta chrysoptera; treescape (a painting or drawing of) a landscape or scene consisting of or filled with trees; tree search Computing a search in which a situation or entity is represented by a tree diagram, e.g. to facilitate efficient searching; tree shrew any of various small insectivorous arboreal mammals with pointed snouts and bushy tails, constituting the order Scandentia, which are found in the forests of SE Asia and are often regarded as close relatives of the primates; tree snake any of various slender non-venomous arboreal snakes of the subfamily Colubrinae, esp. of the genera Dryophis (of Asia), Leptophis (of S. America), and Dendrelaphis (of Australia); tree sparrow (a) a Eurasian sparrow, Passer montanus, which inhabits agricultural land and has a chestnut crown in both sexes; (b) a sparrow-like emberizid, Spizella arborea, which breeds on the edge of the tundra in N. America; tree squirrel an arboreal squirrel, esp. any of the genera Sciurus (of America and Eurasia), Funisciurus (of Africa), and Callosciurus (of SE Asia); tree structure (chiefly Computing) a structure in which there are successive branchings or subdivisions (cf. tree diagram above); tree surgeon a practitioner of tree surgery; tree surgery the pruning and treatment of damaged or decayed trees in order to preserve them; tree swallow a N. American swallow, Tachycineta bicolor, which nests in trees etc.; tree swift each of three Asian crested swifts of the genus Hemiprocne and family Hemiprocnidae, which make a tiny nest of plant fragments and saliva attached to a tree branch; tree toad = tree frog above; tree tomato a Peruvian shrub of the nightshade family, Cyphomandra crassicaulis, grown in tropical and subtropical countries; the red or yellow egg-shaped fruit of this shrub; also called tamarillo; treetop the top of a tree, the uppermost branches of a tree, (freq. in pl.); tree trunk the trunk of a tree; tree warbler any Old World warbler of the genus Hippolais, found in open country with scattered trees and scrub; tree wasp a European social wasp, Dolichovespula sylvestris, which makes a rounded nest suspended from a branch; tree-worship worship of trees or of the gods, spirits, etc., supposed to inhabit them.
b. attrib. or as adjective. Made of wood, wooden. obsolete exc. dial. LME.
treeful noun & adjective (rare) (a) noun as much or as many as will fill or crowd a tree; (b) adjective full of or covered with trees: M19.
treeless adjective destitute of trees, containing no trees L18.
treelessness noun M19.
treelike adjective resembling (that of) a tree M17.
treey adjective (rare) covered or filled with trees, well wooded M19.