birch
any tree or shrub of the genus Betula, comprising species with a smooth, laminated outer bark and close-grained wood.: Compare birch family.
the wood itself.
a birch rod, or a bundle of birch twigs, used especially for whipping.
to beat or punish with or as if with a birch: The young ruffians were birched soundly by their teacher.
Origin of birch
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use birch in a sentence
The birches and aspens are turned to trees of gold, and only the great oak keeps his coronal of green.
Child Life In Town And Country | Anatole FranceWhy, then,” I asked, “are the little virgin birches always running away from them?
The Idyl of Twin Fires | Walter Prichard Eaton"Only look through there," she said, pointing to a vista where a group of birches were shimmering in green.
Country Neighbors | Alice BrownWe left the refreshment-room, and walked among the gorse and birches in the direction of Queen's Mere.
In Accordance with the Evidence | Oliver OnionsNow we ran among the birches; now stooping behind low humps upon the mountain side; now crawling on all-fours among the heather.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 10 (of 25) | Robert Louis Stevenson
British Dictionary definitions for birch
/ (bɜːtʃ) /
any betulaceous tree or shrub of the genus Betula, having thin peeling bark: See also silver birch
the hard close-grained wood of any of these trees
the birch a bundle of birch twigs or a birch rod used, esp formerly, for flogging offenders
of, relating to, or belonging to the birch
consisting or made of birch
(tr) to flog with a birch
Origin of birch
1Derived forms of birch
- birchen, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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