tree fern


noun
  1. any of various ferns, mostly tropical and chiefly of the family Cyatheaceae, that attain the size of trees, sending up a straight trunklike stem with foliage at the summit.

Origin of tree fern

1
First recorded in 1840–50

Words Nearby tree fern

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use tree fern in a sentence

  • We had one tree-fern that rose from the centre of a rockery, and spread itself over it like a handsome umbrella.

  • Acrogen, ak′ro-jen, n. a plant that grows at the top chiefly, as a tree-fern.

  • They were cool, and showed no trace of scorching, nor were their anklets of dried tree-fern leaf burnt.

    Modern Mythology | Andrew Lang
  • In another lament a grieving mother is compared to the drooping fronds of the tree-fern.

    The Long White Cloud | William Pember Reeves
  • Yielding to a first impulse of self-preservation, Laurence, quick as thought, stepped behind the stem of the tree-fern.

    The Sign of the Spider | Bertram Mitford

British Dictionary definitions for tree fern

tree fern

noun
  1. any of numerous large tropical ferns, mainly of the family Cyatheaceae, having a trunklike stem bearing fronds at the top

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012