SPRUCING
Verb
sprucing
present participle of spruce
Source: Wiktionary
SPRUCE
Spruce, n. Etym: [OE. Spruce or Pruse, Prussia, Prussian. So named
because it was first known as a native of Prussia, or because its
sprouts were used for making, spruce beer. Cf. Spruce beer, below,
Spruce, a.]
1. (Bot.)
Definition: Any coniferous tree of the genus Picea, as the Norway spruce
(P. excelsa), and the white and black spruces of America (P. alba and
P. nigra), besides several others in the far Northwest. See Picea.
2. The wood or timber of the spruce tree.
3. Prussia leather; pruce. [Obs.]
Spruce, a sort of leather corruptly so called for Prussia leather. E.
Phillips.
Douglas spruce (Bot.), a valuable timber tree (Pseudotsuga Douglasii)
of Northwestern America.
– Essence of spruce, a thick, dark-colored, bitterish, and
acidulous liquid made by evaporating a decoction of the young
branches of spruce.
– Hemlock spruce (Bot.), a graceful coniferous tree (Tsuga
Canadensis) of North America. Its timber is valuable, and the bark is
largely used in tanning leather.
– Spruce beer. Etym: [G. sprossenbier; sprosse sprout, shoot (akin
to E. sprout, n.) + bier beer. The word was changed into spruce
because the beer came from Prussia (OE. Spruce), or because it was
made from the sprouts of the spruce. See Sprout, n., Beer, and cf.
Spruce, n.] A kind of beer which is tinctured or flavored with
spruce, either by means of the extract or by decoction.
– Spruce grouse. (Zoöl.) Same as Spruce partridge, below.
– Spruce leather. See Spruce, n., 3.
– Spruce partridge (Zoöl.), a handsome American grouse (Dendragapus
Canadensis) found in Canada and the Northern United States; -- called
also Canada grouse.
Spruce, a. [Compar. Sprucer; superl. Sprucest] Etym: [Perhaps fr.
spruce a sort of leather from Prussia, which was an article of
finery. See Spruce, n.]
1. Neat, without elegance or dignity; -- formerly applied to things
with a serious meaning; now chiefly applied to persons. "Neat and
spruce array." Remedy of Love.
2. Sprightly; dashing. [Obs.] "Now, my spruce companions." Shak.
He is so spruce that he can never be genteel. Tatler.
Syn.
– Finical; neat; trim. See Finical.
– Sruce"ly, adv.
– Spruce"ness, n.
Spruce, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spruced; p. pr. & vb. n. Sprucing.]
Definition: To dress with affected neatness; to trim; to make spruce.
Spruce, v. i.
Definition: To dress one's self with affected neatness; as, to spruce up.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition