Meaning & use
spruce tree
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountablebiology
A tall evergreen tree with needle-like leaves and hanging cones, often grown for timber or as a Christmas tree.
Grammar: Countable: one spruce tree, two spruce trees; 'spruce' alone can also mean the wood.
Patterns
- a spruce tree
- plant a spruce tree
- a forest of spruce trees
A row of spruce trees lined the edge of the field.
They chose a small spruce tree for the front yard.
Spruce trees keep their needles through the winter.
Word forms
| plural | spruce trees |
|---|
Common combinations
- a tall spruce tree
- A tall spruce tree shaded the whole garden.
- plant a spruce tree
- We planted a spruce tree near the fence.
- a spruce forest
- The trail winds through a dark spruce forest.
- spruce timber
- The cabin was built from spruce timber.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- spruce noun
- The tree itself, or the wood cut from it.
Commonly confused: spruce tree or spruce?
spruce tree vs spruce
As an adjective, 'spruce' means neat and tidy, as in 'a spruce appearance'; the tree sense is a noun.
Practice
What is a spruce tree?
Choose one answer.
A spruce is an evergreen conifer with needle-like leaves and cones that hang down. The other options describe deciduous, fruiting, or tropical trees, not spruces.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “spruce tree”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.