Spruce \Spruce\ (spr[udd]s), n. [OE. Spruce or Pruse, Prussia,
Prussian. So named because it was first known as a native of
Prussia, or because its sprouts were used for making, spruce
beer. Cf. Spruce beer, below, Spruce, a.]
1. (Bot.) Any coniferous tree of the genus Picea, as the
Norway spruce ({Picea excelsa), and the white and black
spruces of America ({Picea alba and Picea nigra),
besides several others in the far Northwest. See Picea.
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2. The wood or timber of the spruce tree.
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3. Prussia leather; pruce. [Obs.]
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Spruce, a sort of leather corruptly so called for
Prussia leather. --E. Phillips.
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Douglas spruce (Bot.), a valuable timber tree ({Pseudotsuga
Douglasii) of Northwestern America.
Essence of spruce, a thick, dark-colored, bitterish, and
acidulous liquid made by evaporating a decoction of the
young branches of spruce.
Hemlock spruce (Bot.), a graceful coniferous tree ({Tsuga
Canadensis) of North America. Its timber is valuable, and
the bark is largely used in tanning leather.
Spruce beer. [G. sprossenbier; sprosse sprout, shoot (akin
to E. sprout, n.) + bier beer. The word was changed into
spruce beer because the beer came from Prussia (OE.
Spruce), or because it was made from the sprouts of the
spruce. See Sprout, n., Beer, and cf. Spruce, n.] A
kind of beer which is tinctured or flavored with spruce,
either by means of the extract or by decoction.
Spruce grouse. (Zool.) Same as Spruce partridge, below.
Spruce leather. See Spruce, n., 3.
Spruce partridge (Zool.), a handsome American grouse
({Dendragapus Canadensis) found in Canada and the
Northern United States; -- called also Canada grouse.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Spruce \Spruce\ (spr[udd]s), a. [Compar. Sprucer
(spr[udd]"s[~e]r); superl. Sprucest (spr[udd]"s[e^]st).]
[Perhaps fr. spruce a sort of leather from Prussia, which was
an article of finery. See Spruce, n.]
1. Neat, without elegance or dignity; smart; trim; --
formerly applied to things with a serious meaning; now
chiefly applied to persons. "Neat and spruce array."
--Remedy of Love.
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2. Sprightly; dashing. [Obs.] "Now, my spruce companions."
--Shak.
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He is so spruce that he can never be genteel.
--Tatler.
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Syn: Finical; neat; trim. See Finical.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Spruce \Spruce\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spruced (spr[udd]st); p.
pr. & vb. n. Sprucing (spr[udd]"s[i^]ng).]
To dress with affected neatness; to trim; to make spruce; --
often used with up; as, to spruce up the house for Company.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Spruce \Spruce\, v. i.
To dress one's self with affected neatness; as, to spruce up.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
spruce
adj : marked by smartness in dress and manners; "a dapper young
man"; "a jaunty red hat" [syn: dapper, dashing, jaunty,
natty, raffish, rakish, smart, spiffy, snappy]
n 1: light soft moderately strong wood of spruce trees; used
especially for timbers and millwork
2: any coniferous tree of the genus Picea
v 1: make neat, smart, or trim; "Spruce up your house for
Spring"; "titivate the child" [syn: spruce up, titivate,
tittivate, smarten up, slick up, spiff up]
2: dress and groom with particular care, as for a special
occasion; "He spruced up for the party" [syn: spruce up,
slick up, smarten up]
WordNet (r) 2.0
78 Moby Thesaurus words for "spruce":
anal, bandbox, bowdlerized, braw, chic, classy, clean up, cleaned,
cleaned up, cleansed, clothes-conscious, cosmopolitan, dapper,
dashing, dinky, doggy, dressed to advantage, dressed to kill,
dressed up, elegant, en grande tenue, endimanche, expurgated,
exquisite, genteel, gussied up, in full dress, in full feather,
in high feather, in tails, jaunty, modish, natty, neat, nifty,
nobby, posh, primp, purged, purified, recherche, refined, reformed,
ritzy, sassy, sharp, shipshape, sleek, slick, slicked up, smart,
smarten up, smug, snazzy, snug, soigne, soignee, sophisticated,
spiffy, spruce up, straighten out, straighten up, style-conscious,
stylish, swank, swanky, swell, tidy, tidy up, tight, titivate,
tricksy, trig, trim, well turned-out, well-cared-for, well-dressed,
well-groomed
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
Spruce, MI
Zip code(s): 48762
U.S. Gazetteer (1990)
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