birch

[burch]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR birch ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

any tree or shrub of the genus Betula, comprising species with a smooth, laminated outer bark and close-grained wood.Compare birch family.

the wood itself.

a birch rod, or a bundle of birch twigs, used especially for whipping.

adjective

birchen.

verb (used with object)

to beat or punish with or as if with a birch: The young ruffians were birched soundly by their teacher.

Origin of birch

before 900; Middle English birche, Old English birce; cognate with Old High German birka (German Birke); akin to Sanskrit bhūrja kind of birch

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for birch

shaft, cylinder, cane, ingot, pin, baton, stick, slab, wedge, bat, bar, wand, club, rod, stalk, strip, truncheon, nightstick, pummel, overwhelm

Examples from the Web for birch

Contemporary Examples of birch

But you do not have a 50-foot birch lying across your driveway.
The Federal Government Has Violated My Right to Chainsaw
P. J. O’Rourke
April 27, 2014
Wetlands protected under the “Clean Water Act of 1972” are being polluted with birch beer precursor chemicals.
The Federal Government Has Violated My Right to Chainsaw
P. J. O’Rourke
April 27, 2014
It was Birch who took Gilbert and George to China, a trip on which Compston was invited, missed the plane, and came along later.
Joshua Compston Was Once the Wunderkind of the British Art World…and Now He’s Been Practically Forgotten
Anthony Haden-Guest
January 17, 2014
Russians believe the best way to dry out from vodka saturation is with a sauna session and a beating with birch branches.
The Wildest Hangover Cures From Around the World
Nina Strochlic
November 29, 2013
Sustainable Cards uses a Nordic birch veneer, and then layers on a cellulosic paper structure.
Wood Cards Are a Green Alternative to the Classic Plastic Gift Card
Daniel Gross
November 29, 2013

Historical Examples of birch

Captain Birch briefly responded on behalf of the Volunteers.
Explorations in Australia
John Forrest
Out of it he drew a roll of birch bark painted with juice of poke-berries.
The Trail Book
Mary Austin
The general and Captain Birch were both wounded, early in the night.
The Story of the Malakand Field Force
Sir Winston S. Churchill
It was then that our captain took me aside, and he says, 'Birch, will you assist me?
Tales And Novels, Volume 5 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
But when he felt the blows of Munro, his spirit lay under the birch.
The Last of the Mohicans
James Fenimore Cooper

British Dictionary definitions for birch

birch

noun

any betulaceous tree or shrub of the genus Betula, having thin peeling barkSee also silver birch

the hard close-grained wood of any of these trees

the birch a bundle of birch twigs or a birch rod used, esp formerly, for flogging offenders

adjective

of, relating to, or belonging to the birch

consisting or made of birch

verb

(tr) to flog with a birch

Derived Formsbirchen, adjective

Word Origin for birch

Old English bierce; related to Old High German birihha, Sanskrit bhūrja

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

Word Origin and History for birch

Old English berc, beorc (also the name of the rune for "b"), from Proto-Germanic *berkjon (cf. Old Saxon birka, Old Norse börk, Danish birk, Swedish björk, Middle Dutch berke, Dutch berk, Old High German birihha, German Birke), from PIE *bhergo (cf. Ossetian barz, Old Church Slavonic breza, Russian bereza, Lithuanian beržas, Sanskrit bhurjah, Latin farnus, fraxinus "mountain ash"), from root *bhereg- "to gleam, white." Meaning "bunch of birch twigs used for flogging" (1640s) led to verb meaning "to flog" (1830). Related: Birched; birching. Birch beer is by 1827, American English.