— treelike , adj.
/tree/ , n. , v. , treed, treeing .
n.
1. a plant having a permanently woody main stem or trunk, ordinarily growing to a considerable height, and usually developing branches at some distance from the ground.
2. any of various shrubs, bushes, and plants, as the banana, resembling a tree in form and size.
3. something resembling a tree in shape, as a clothes tree or a crosstree.
4. Math. , Ling. See tree diagram .
5. See family tree .
6. a pole, post, beam, bar, handle, or the like, as one forming part of some structure.
7. a shoetree or boot tree.
8. a saddletree.
9. a treelike group of crystals, as one forming in an electrolytic cell.
10. a gallows or gibbet.
11. the cross on which Christ was crucified.
12. Computers. a data structure organized like a tree whose nodes store data elements and whose branches represent pointers to other nodes in the tree.
13. See Christmas tree .
14. up a tree , Informal. in a difficult or embarrassing situation; at a loss; stumped.
v.t.
15. to drive into or up a tree, as a pursued animal or person.
16. Informal. to put into a difficult position.
17. to stretch or shape on a tree, as a boot.
18. to furnish (a structure) with a tree.
[ bef. 900; ME; OE treo ( w ); c. OFris, ON tre, OS treo, Goth triu; akin to Gk drys oak, Skt, Avestan dru wood ]