資料來源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Spruce \Spruce\, n. [OE. Spruce or Pruse, Prussia, Prussian. So
named because it was first known as a native of Prussia, or
because its sprouts were used for making, spruce beer. Cf.
Spruce beer, below, {Spruce}, a.]
1. (Bot.) Any coniferous tree of the genus {Picea}, as the
Norway spruce ({P. excelsa}), and the white and black
spruces of America ({P. alba} and {P. nigra}), besides
several others in the far Northwest. See {Picea}.
2. The wood or timber of the spruce tree.
3. Prussia leather; pruce. [Obs.]
Spruce, a sort of leather corruptly so called for
Prussia leather. --E. Phillips.
{Douglas spruce} (Bot.), a valuable timber tree ({Pseudotsuga
Douglasii}) of Northwestern America.
{Essence of spruce}, a thick, dark-colored, bitterish, and
acidulous liquid made by evaporating a decoction of the
young branches of spruce.
{Hemlock spruce} (Bot.), a graceful coniferous tree ({Tsuga
Canadensis}) of North America. Its timber is valuable, and
the bark is largely used in tanning leather.
{Spruce beer}. [G. sprossenbier; sprosse sprout, shoot (akin
to E. sprout, n.) + bier beer. The word was changed into
spruce because the beer came from Prussia (OE. Spruce), or
because it was made from the sprouts of the spruce. See
{Sprout}, n., {Beer}, and cf. {Spruce}, n.] A kind of beer
which is tinctured or flavored with spruce, either by
means of the extract or by decoction.
{Spruce grouse}. (Zo["o]l.) Same as {Spruce partridge},
below.
{Spruce leather}. See {Spruce}, n., 3.
{Spruce partridge} (Zo["o]l.), a handsome American grouse
({Dendragapus Canadensis}) found in Canada and the
Northern United States; -- called also {Canada grouse}.