BIRCHES

Noun

birches

plural of birch

Verb

birches

Third-person singular simple present indicative form of birch

Proper noun

Birches

plural of Birch

Source: Wiktionary


BIRCH

Birch, n.; pl. Birches. Etym: [OE. birche, birk, AS. birce, beorc; akin to Icel. björk, Sw. björk, Dan. birk, D. berk, OHG. piricha, MHG. birche, birke, G. birke, Russ. bereza, Pol. brzoza, Serv. breza, Skr. bh. sq. root254. Cf. 1st Birk.]

1. A tree of several species, constituting the genus Betula; as, the white or common birch (B. alba) (also called silver birch and lady birch); the dwarf birch (B. glandulosa); the paper or canoe birch (B. papyracea); the yellow birch (B. lutea); the black or cherry birch (B. lenta).

2. The wood or timber of the birch.

3. A birch twig or birch twigs, used for flogging.

Note: The twigs of the common European birch (B. alba), being tough and slender, were formerly much used for rods in schools. They were also made into brooms. The threatening twigs of birch. Shak.

4. A birch-bark canoe. Birch of Jamaica, a species (Bursera gummifera) of turpentine tree.

– Birch partridge. (Zoöl.) See Ruffed grouse.

– Birch wine, wine made of the spring sap of the birch.

– Oil of birch. (a) An oil obtained from the bark of the common European birch (Betula alba), and used in the preparation of genuine ( and sometimes of the imitation) Russia leather, to which it gives its peculiar odor. (b) An oil prepared from the black birch (B. lenta), said to be identical with the oil of wintergreen, for which it is largely sold.

Birch, a.

Definition: Of or pertaining to the birch; birchen.

Birch, v. t. [imp & p. p. Birched; p. pr. & vb. n. Birching.]

Definition: To whip with a birch rod or twig; to flog.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

29 November 2024

POPULATED

(adjective) furnished with inhabitants; “the area is well populated”; “forests populated with all kinds of wild life”


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Coffee Trivia

The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.

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