SPRUCE

I. verb (~d; sprucing) Date: 1594 transitive verb to make ~, intransitive verb to make oneself ~ , II. adjective (~r; ~st) Etymology: perhaps from obsolete English Spruce leather leather imported from Prussia Date: 1599 neat or smart in appearance ; trim , ~ly adverb ~ness noun III. noun (plural ~s; also ~) Etymology: obsolete Spruce Prussia, from Middle English, alteration of Pruce, from Anglo-French Date: 1670 1. any of a genus ( Picea ) of evergreen trees of the pine family with a conical head of dense foliage, flat or 4-sided needles, pendulous cones, and soft light wood, any of several coniferous trees (as Douglas fir) of similar habit, the wood of a ~