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7 definitions found
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Spruce \Spruce\ (spr[udd]s), adjective [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}, noun]
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.
2. Sprightly; dashing. [Obs.] ''Now, my spruce companions.'' --Shak.
He is so spruce that he can never be genteel. --Tatler.
Syn: Finical; neat; trim. See {Finical}. -- {Spruce"ly}, adverb -- {Spruce"ness}, noun
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Spruce \Spruce\ (spr[udd]s), noun [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}, adjective]
1. (Bot.) 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. [Obs.]
Spruce, a sort of leather corruptly so called for Prussia leather. --E. Phillips.
{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, noun) + 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}, noun, {Beer}, and cf. {Spruce}, noun] A kind of beer which is tinctured or flavored with spruce, either by means of the extract or by decoction.
{Spruce grouse}. (Zo["o]l.) Same as {Spruce partridge}, below.
{Spruce leather}. See {Spruce}, noun, 3.
{Spruce partridge} (Zo["o]l.), a handsome American grouse ({Dendragapus Canadensis}) found in Canada and the Northern United States; -- called also {Canada grouse}.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Spruce \Spruce\, verb (used with an object) [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.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Spruce \Spruce\, verb (used without an object) To dress one's self with affected neatness; as, to spruce up.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
spruce
adjective: 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}]
noun
1: light soft moderately strong wood of spruce trees; used especially for timbers and millwork
2: any coniferous tree of the genus Picea
verb
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}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
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
From U.S. Gazetteer (1990) [gazetteer]:
Spruce, MI Zip code(s): 48762
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