/ spruːs; NAmE / noun , verb , adjective
■ noun
1.
[ C , U ] an evergreen forest tree with leaves like needles
2.
[ U ] the soft wood of the spruce, used, for example, in making paper
■ verb
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PHRASAL VERBS
- spruce up | spruce sb/sth / yourself up
■ adjective
( of people or places ) neat and clean in appearance
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WORD ORIGIN
verb and adjective late 16th cent.: perhaps from spruce (noun) in the obsolete sense Prussian, in the phrase spruce (leather) jerkin .
noun late Middle English (denoting Prussia or something originating in Prussia): alteration of obsolete Pruce Prussia . The application to the tree dates from the early 17th cent.