View synonyms for

spruce

[sproos]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

any evergreen, coniferous tree of the genus Picea, of the pine family, having short, angular, needle-shaped leaves attached singly around twigs and bearing hanging cones with persistent scales.
any of various allied trees, as the Douglas fir and the hemlock spruce.
the wood of any such tree.

adjective

made from the wood of a spruce tree or trees.
containing or abounding in spruce trees.

spruce

[sproos]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

sprucer, sprucest

trim in dress or appearance; neat; smart; dapper.

verb (used with object)

spruced, sprucing

to make spruce or smart (often followed byup ).
Spruce up the children before the company comes.

verb (used without object)

spruced, sprucing

to make oneself spruce (usually followed byup ).

spruce

/ ��ː�� /

noun

any coniferous tree of the N temperate genus Picea, cultivated for timber and for ornament: family Pinaceae. They grow in a pyramidal shape and have needle-like leaves and light-coloured wood See also Norway spruce blue spruce white spruce black spruce
the wood of any of these trees

spruce

/ ��ː�� /

adjective

neat, smart, and trim

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Other Word Forms

sprucely adverb
spruceness noun
unspruced adjective
ˈ��ܳ��Ա�� noun
ˈ��ܳ�� adverb

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Word History and Origins

Origin of spruce¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, special use of Spruce, Sprus(e), variant of Pruce, Prus(se), from Old French Prusse, Pruisse, from Medieval Latin Prussia Prussia, source of the timber

Origin of spruce²

First recorded in 1580–90; obsolete spruce jerkin originally, jerkin made of spruce leather, i.e., leather imported from Prussia ( spruce ¹ ), hence fine, smart, etc.

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Word History and Origins

Origin of spruce¹

C17: short for Spruce fir, from C14 Spruce Prussia, changed from Pruce, via Old French from Latin Prussia

Origin of spruce²

C16: perhaps from Spruce leather a fashionable leather imported from Prussia; see _spruce ¹

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

To spruce up plain tea, drinkers can request lemon slices, fresh herbs, fruit syrups, or honey, if they are available at a specific coffee shop.

From

And it’s easy, as many quickly did, to write off this push to spruce up and fill up America’s most notorious prison-turned-national park as just bloviating or distraction.

From

Many diversified — adding restaurants and other activities — as well as sprucing up their theaters to attract new patrons.

From

Add your sauce, let warm through, then spruce up with some of your favorite chopped fresh herbs.

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The revenue boost comes after a sluggish period for the furniture industry, which experienced a boom during the pandemic as people quarantined and spent heavily on sprucing up their homes.

From

Spruance spruce beer

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