spruce

spruce
    adj 1: marked by up-to-dateness in dress and manners; "a dapper
           young man"; "a jaunty red hat" [syn: {dapper}, {dashing},
           {jaunty}, {natty}, {raffish}, {rakish}, {spiffy},
           {snappy}, {spruce}]
    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}, {spruce},
         {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},
       {spruce}, {slick up}, {smarten up}]
    

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}.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. The wood or timber of the spruce tree.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Prussia leather; pruce. [Obs.]
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            Spruce, a sort of leather corruptly so called for
            Prussia leather.                      --E. Phillips.
      [1913 Webster]

   {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}.
      [1913 Webster]
    

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.
      [1913 Webster]

   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}.
        [1913 Webster] -- {Spruce"ly}, adv. -- {Spruce"ness}, n.
        [1913 Webster]
    

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.
   [1913 Webster]
    

Spruce \Spruce\, v. i.
   To dress one's self with affected neatness; as, to spruce up.
   [1913 Webster]
    

Spruce, MI
  Zip code(s): 48762
    

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