tree

 
Pronunciation: /triː/

noun

  • 1a woody perennial plant, typically having a single stem or trunk growing to a considerable height and bearing lateral branches at some distance from the ground.
  • (in general use) any bush, shrub, or herbaceous plant with a tall erect stem, e.g. a banana plant.
  • 2a wooden structure or part of a structure.
  • archaic or literary the cross on which Christ was crucified.
  • archaic a gibbet.
  • 3a thing that has a branching structure resembling that of a tree.
  • (also tree diagram) a diagram with a structure of branching connecting lines, representing different processes and relationships.

verb (trees, treeing, treed)

[with object]
  • 1North American force (a hunted animal) to take refuge in a tree.
  • informal, chiefly US force (someone) into a difficult situation.
  • 2 (as adjective treed) (of an area) planted with trees: sparsely treed grasslands

Phrases

out of one's tree

informal completely stupid; mad.

up a tree

informal, chiefly North American in a difficult situation without escape; cornered.

Derivatives

treeless

adjective

treelessness

noun

tree-like

adjective

Origin:

Old English trēow, trēo: from a Germanic variant of an Indo-European root shared by Greek doru 'wood, spear', drus 'oak'