birch

birch

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

birch

[Old English bierce; related to Old High German birihha, Sanskrit bhūrja]

ˈbirchen adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

birch

1. any tree or shrub of the genus Betula, comprising species with a smooth, laminated outer bark and close-grained wood.

2. the wood itself.

3. a birch rod, or a bundle of birch twigs, used for whipping.

4. Also, birch′en. of or made of birch.

5. to beat with or as if with a birch.

[before 900; Middle English birche, Old English birce]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

birch

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

Noun	1.	birch - hard close-grained wood of any of various birch trees; used especially in furniture and interior finishes and plywood birch tree, birch - any betulaceous tree or shrub of the genus Betula having a thin peeling bark wood - the hard fibrous lignified substance under the bark of trees
	2.	birch - any betulaceous tree or shrub of the genus Betula having a thin peeling bark birch tree Betula, genus Betula - a genus of trees of the family Betulaceae (such as birches) birch - hard close-grained wood of any of various birch trees; used especially in furniture and interior finishes and plywood Betula alleghaniensis, Betula leutea, yellow birch - tree of eastern North America with thin lustrous yellow or grey bark American white birch, Betula cordifolia, Betula papyrifera, canoe birch, paper birch, paperbark birch - small American birch with peeling white bark often worked into e.g. baskets or toy canoes American gray birch, American grey birch, Betula populifolia, gray birch, grey birch - medium-sized birch of eastern North America having white or pale grey bark and valueless wood; occurs often as a second-growth forest tree Betula pendula, common birch, European white birch, silver birch - European birch with silvery white peeling bark and markedly drooping branches Betula pubescens, downy birch, white birch - European birch with dull white to pale brown bark and somewhat drooping hairy branches Betula nigra, red birch, river birch, black birch - birch of swamps and river bottoms throughout the eastern United States having reddish-brown bark Betula lenta, black birch, cherry birch, sweet birch - common birch of the eastern United States having spicy brown bark yielding a volatile oil and hard dark wood used for furniture Betula neoalaskana, Yukon white birch - Alaskan birch with white to pale brown bark Betula fontinalis, mountain birch, swamp birch, water birch, Western birch, Western paper birch - birch of western United States resembling the paper birch but having brownish bark American dwarf birch, Betula glandulosa, Newfoundland dwarf birch - small shrub of colder parts of North America and Greenland tree - a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
	3.	birch - a switch consisting of a twig or a bundle of twigs from a birch tree; used to hit people as punishment; "my father never spared the birch" birch rod switch - a flexible implement used as an instrument of punishment
Verb	1.	birch - whip with a birch twig     flog, lash, lather, trounce, welt, whip, slash, strap - beat severely with a whip or rod; "The teacher often flogged the students"; "The children were severely trounced"
Adj.	1.	birch - consisting of or made of wood of the birch tree birchen, birken woody - made of or containing or resembling wood; "woody plants"; "perennial herbs with woody stems"; "a woody taste"

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.