dictionary help| spruce | medical dictionary |
1. <botany> Any coniferous tree of the genus Picea, as the Norway spruce (P. Excelsa), and the white and black spruces of America (P. Alba and P. Nigra), besides several others in the far Northwest. See Picea.
2. The wood or timber of the spruce tree.
3. Prussia leather; pruce. "Spruce, a sort of leather corruptly so called for Prussia leather." (E.
<botany> Phillips) Douglas spruce, a handsome American grouse (Dendragapus Canadensis) found in Canada and the Northern United States.
Origin: 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.
(01 Mar 1998)
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