Christmas tree

American  

noun

• Christmas trees
  plural

1. an evergreen tree decorated at Christmas with ornaments and lights.

2. a control board or panel containing a variety of colored lights for indicating the status of various functions, elements, components, etc.

3. an elaborate arrangement of pipes, valves, etc., as for controlling the flow of oil or gas.

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Christmas tree British  

noun

1. an evergreen tree or an imitation of one, decorated as part of Christmas celebrations

2. Also called: Christmas bush.  any of various trees or shrubs flowering at Christmas and used for decoration

3. another name for pohutukawa

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Christmas trees
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Christmas tree

An Americanism dating back to 1780–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Christmas tree

They organized the annual Easter Egg Roll on the White House South Lawn and lit the Christmas tree on the Ellipse, Jarvis said.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026

In the live, as the members sit around a table of food with a Christmas tree in the background, talk turns to how 2025 is ending and the new year is around the corner.

From Salon ● Mar. 27, 2026

A few days earlier, activists from the group targeted the Ritz Hotel, dumping bags of manure beside its Christmas tree.

From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2026

“I don’t want to be mean, but … the Christmas tree is up,” Sugarman continued, looking at the snap.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 20, 2026

Ruth held on through the holidays, but when we were taking down the Christmas tree, she told me that she’d been thinking that the First Presbyterian just wasn’t quite right for us anymore.

From "The Miseducation of Cameron Post" by emily m. danforth