Tree
(Tree) n. [OE. tree, tre, treo, AS. treó, treów, tree, wood; akin to OFries. tre, OS. treo, trio, Icel.
tre, Dan. træ, Sw. trä, träd, Goth. triu, Russ. drevo, W. derw an oak, Ir. darag, darog, Gr. dry^s
a tree, oak, do`ry a beam, spear shaft, spear, Skr. dru tree, wood, daru wood. &radic63, 241. Cf.
Dryad, Germander, Tar, n., Trough.]
1. (Bot.) Any perennial woody plant of considerable size (usually over twenty feet high) and growing
with a single trunk.
The kind of tree referred to, in any particular case, is often indicated by a modifying word; as forest tree,
fruit tree, palm tree, apple tree, pear tree, etc.
2. Something constructed in the form of, or considered as resembling, a tree, consisting of a stem, or
stock, and branches; as, a genealogical tree.
3. A piece of timber, or something commonly made of timber; — used in composition, as in axletree,
boottree, chesstree, crosstree, whiffletree, and the like.
4. A cross or gallows; as Tyburn tree.
[Jesus] whom they slew and hanged on a tree.
Acts x. 39. 5. Wood; timber. [Obs.] Chaucer.
In a great house ben not only vessels of gold and of silver but also of tree and of earth.
Wyclif (2 Tim.
ii. 20). 6. (Chem.) A mass of crystals, aggregated in arborescent forms, obtained by precipitation of a metal
from solution. See Lead tree, under Lead.
Tree bear (Zoöl.), the raccoon. [Local, U. S.] — Tree beetle (Zoöl.) any one of numerous species of
beetles which feed on the leaves of trees and shrubs, as the May beetles, the rose beetle, the rose
chafer, and the goldsmith beetle. — Tree bug (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of hemipterous
insects which live upon, and suck the sap of, trees and shrubs. They belong to Arma, Pentatoma,
Rhaphigaster, and allied genera. — Tree cat (Zool.), the common paradoxure — Tree clover (Bot.),
a tall kind of melilot See Melilot. — Tree crab (Zoöl.), the purse crab. See under Purse. — Tree
creeper (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of arboreal creepers belonging to Certhia, Climacteris,
and allied genera. See Creeper, 3. — Tree cricket (Zoöl.), a nearly white arboreal American cricket
(Ecanthus nivœus) which is noted for its loud stridulation; — called also white cricket. — Tree crow (Zoöl.),
any one of several species of Old World crows belonging to Crypsirhina and allied genera, intermediate
between the true crows and the jays. The tail is long, and the bill is curved and without a tooth. — Tree
dove (Zoöl.) any one of several species of East Indian and Asiatic doves belonging to Macropygia and
allied genera. They have long and broad tails, are chiefly arboreal in their habits, and feed mainly on
fruit. — Tree duck (Zoöl.), any one of several species of ducks belonging to Dendrocygna and allied
genera. These ducks have a long and slender neck and a long hind toe. They are arboreal in their habits,
and are found in the tropical parts of America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. — Tree fern (Bot.), an
arborescent fern having a straight trunk, sometimes twenty or twenty-five feet high, or even higher, and
bearing a cluster of fronds at the top. Most of the existing species are tropical. — Tree fish (Zoöl.),
a California market fish — Tree frog. (Zoöl.) (a) Same as Tree toad. (b) Any one of numerous
species of Old World frogs belonging to Chiromantis, Rhacophorus, and allied genera of the family
Ranidæ. Their toes are furnished with suckers for adhesion. The flying frog (see under Flying) is an example.
— Tree goose (Zoöl.), the bernicle goose. — Tree hopper (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species
of small leaping hemipterous insects which live chiefly on the branches and twigs of trees, and injure
them by sucking the sap. Many of them are very odd in shape, the prothorax being often prolonged
upward or forward in the form of a spine or crest. — Tree jobber (Zoöl.), a woodpecker. [Obs.] —
Tree kangaroo. (Zoöl.) See Kangaroo. — Tree lark (Zoöl.), the tree pipit. [Prov. Eng.] — Tree
