■ noun
1》 a slender hardy tree with thin, peeling, silver-grey or white bark, which yields a hard pale wood. [ Betula pendula ( silver ~ ) and related species.]
2》 ( the ~ ) chiefly historical a formal punishment in which a person is flogged with a bundle of ~ twigs.
■ verb chiefly historical beat with the ~ as a punishment.
Derivatives
~en adjective ( archaic ).
Origin
OE bierce , birce , of Gmc origin.