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.
a pole, post, beam, bar, handle, or the like, as one forming part of some structure.
a saddletree.
a treelike group of crystals, as one forming in an electrolytic cell.
a gallows or gibbet.
the cross on which Christ was crucified.
Computers. a data structure organized like a tree whose nodes store data elements and whose branches represent pointers to other nodes in the tree.
to drive into or up a tree, as a pursued animal or person.
Informal. to put into a difficult position.
to stretch or shape on a tree, as a boot.
to furnish (a structure) with a tree.
any large woody perennial plant with a distinct trunk giving rise to branches or leaves at some distance from the ground
any plant that resembles this but has a trunk not made of wood, such as a palm tree
a wooden post, bar, etc
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
in the highest position of a profession, etc
informal in a difficult situation; trapped or stumped
to drive or force up a tree
to shape or stretch (a shoe) on a shoetree
First recorded 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”
A tree is a large plant with a trunk, branches, and leaves. If you have an apple tree in your backyard, you'll have apples in the fall — and a nice shady place to sit in the summer. The thick, woody trunk is actually the stem of a tree, and its ability to grow so much taller than other plants evolved partly as a way for trees to absorb more sunlight. Trees do a lot for humans, including providing oxygen, giving us places to climb, producing fruit, shading us, and providing lumber and fuel. As a verb, tree means "chase into a tree," the way your dog might tree the neighbor's cat.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Many parents save their own PTO for the summer, but, according to a 2025 Lending Tree survey, almost two-thirds take on debt each year to pay for summer activities.
From Salon • Jun. 24, 2026
“Every state says that,” said Andy Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, which runs the Pine Tree State Poll.
From Slate • Jun. 16, 2026
Tree had just begun a world tour, with his most recent show in São Paulo, Brazil on 6 June.
From BBC • Jun. 15, 2026
Tree, a quirky artist known for his highly theatrical music videos and crisp bowl cut, had been traveling through South America as a part of his world tour.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 14, 2026
“Chi-Roy, walk the perimeter. Tree, Zheegwon, lay extra wires.”
From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
