tree

[tree] /tri/

noun

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.

any of various shrubs, bushes, and plants, as the banana, resembling a tree in form and size.

something resembling a tree in shape, as a clothes tree or a crosstree.

Mathematics, Linguistics, tree diagram.

family tree.

a pole, post, beam, bar, handle, or the like, as one forming part of some structure.

a shoetree or boot tree.

a saddletree.

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.

Christmas tree.

verb (used with object), treed, treeing.

14.

to drive into or up a tree, as a pursued animal or person.

15.

Informal. to put into a difficult position.

16.

to stretch or shape on a tree, as a boot.

17.

to furnish (a structure) with a tree.

Idioms

18.

up a tree, Informal. in a difficult or embarrassing situation; at a loss; stumped.

Origin

before 900; Middle English; Old English trēo(w); cognate with Old Frisian, Old Norse trē, Old Saxon treo, Gothic triu; akin to Greek drŷs oak, Sanskrit, Avestan dru wood

Related forms

treelike, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for up a tree

tree

/triː/

noun

any large woody perennial plant with a distinct trunk giving rise to branches or leaves at some distance from the ground related adjective arboreal

any plant that resembles this but has a trunk not made of wood, such as a palm tree

a wooden post, bar, etc

See family tree, shoetree, saddletree

(chem) a treelike crystal growth; dendrite

a branching diagrammatic representation of something, such as the grammatical structure of a sentence
(as modifier): a tree diagram

an archaic word for gallows

(archaic) the cross on which Christ was crucified

at the top of the tree, in the highest position of a profession, etc

10.

(US & Canadian, informal) up a tree, in a difficult situation; trapped or stumped

verb (transitive) trees, treeing, treed

11.

to drive or force up a tree

12.

to shape or stretch (a shoe) on a shoetree

Derived Forms

treeless, adjective
treelessness, noun
treelike, adjective

Word Origin

Old English trēo; related to Old Frisian, Old Norse trē, Old Saxon trio, Gothic triu, Greek doru wood, drus tree

Tree

/triː/

noun

Sir Herbert Beerbohm. 1853–1917, English actor and theatre manager; half-brother of Sir Max Beerbohm. He was noted for his lavish productions of Shakespeare

Word Origin and History for up a tree

tree

Old English treo, treow "tree" (also "wood"), from Proto-Germanic *trewan (cf. Old Frisian tre, Old Saxon trio, Old Norse tre, Gothic triu), from PIE *deru- "oak" (cf. Sanskrit dru "tree, wood," daru "wood, log;" Greek drys "oak," doru "spear;" Old Church Slavonic drievo "tree, wood;" Serbian drvo "tree," drva "wood;" Russian drevo "tree, wood;" Czech drva; Polish drwa "wood;" Lithuanian derva "pine wood;" Old Irish daur, Welsh derwen "oak," Albanian drusk "oak").

Importance of the oak in mythology is reflected in the recurring use of words for "oak" to mean "tree." In Old English and Middle English, also "thing made of wood," especially the cross of the Crucifixion and a gallows (cf. Tyburn tree, gallows mentioned 12c. at Tyburn, at junction of Oxford Street and Edgware Road, place of public execution for Middlesex until 1783). Sense in family tree first attested 1706; verb meaning "to chase up a tree" is from 1700. Tree-hugger, contemptuous for "environmentalist" is attested by 1989.

Minc'd Pyes do not grow upon every tree,
But search the Ovens for them, and there they be.
["Poor Robin," Almanack, 1669]

up a tree in Science

tree

(trē)
Any of a wide variety of perennial plants typically having a single woody stem, and usually branches and leaves. Many species of both gymnosperms (notably the conifers) and angiosperms grow in the form of trees. The ancient forests of the Devonian, Mississippian, and Pennsylvanian periods of the Paleozoic Era were dominated by trees belonging to groups of seedless plants such as the lycophytes. The strength and height of trees are made possible by the supportive conductive tissue known as vascular tissue.

Slang definitions & phrases for up a tree

up a tree

adjective phrase

In a predicament; faced with a dilemma; helpless (1825+)

tree

Idioms and Phrases with up a tree

up a tree

In a difficult situation, as in They found the drugs in his suitcase, so he was up a tree. This expression alludes to an animal, such as a raccoon or squirrel, that climbs a tree for refuge from attackers, which then surround the tree so it cannot come down. [ ; early 1800s ]

tree

see: