I. ˈsprüs noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: from obsolete Spruce Prussia, from Middle English, alteration of Pruce, from Old French
1.
a. : an evergreen tree of the genus Picea marked by dense foliage forming a conical head and widely cultivated for ornament
b. : the light soft moderately strong wood of the spruce tree that is less resinous than pine and is used especially for timbers, millwork, and musical instruments — compare fir
c. : any of several other coniferous trees (as the Douglas fir)
2. : a variable color averaging a dark grayish green that is bluer and stronger than average ivy, bluer and darker than Persian green, and bluer, lighter, and slightly stronger than hemlock green
3. : spruce beer
II. adjective
( often -er/-est )
Etymology: perhaps from obsolete English Spruce (leather), a kind of smart leather imported from Prussia and used to make jerkins
1. : smart , active , spirited
a spruce , lively air, fashionable dress — Earl of Chesterfield
the thick orchestral texture is well recorded and some of the chording is admirably spruce — Edward Sackville-West & Desmond Shawe-Taylor
even pedestrian old stuff is pretty spruce under his editing, and the really good jokes take wing — D.T.W.McCord
2. : neat, clean-lined, or smart in appearance : trim
how spruce he looks in his finery — W.E.M.Campbell
had great neatness of person, and he continued to wear his spruce black coat and his bowler hat … in a dapper, jaunty manner — W.S.Maugham
the store looked cheerful and spruce and spanking clean — Arthur Cavanaugh
III. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
: to make (a person or thing) trim, smart, or spruce
the interior … was so spruced, so glistening with white paint — Sylvia T. Warner
sprucing himself for the party
— often used with up
bought a buggy and came to town spruced up in store clothes — W.A.White
amusement arcades have spruced themselves up for the summer season — D.K.Keay
a short collection of notions … some of them spruced up as epigrams, others running as long as a page — New Yorker
intransitive verb
: to make oneself spruce — usually used with up
makes a mad dash for the comfortable waiting rooms … to spruce up a bit — Lynn Grok
spruce up, child, shoulders back, smile, look pleasant — New York Times
IV. adverb
( often -er/-est )
: sprucely