pine
noun
any evergreen, conifer of the genus Pinus, having long, needle-shaped leaves, certain species of which yield timber, turpentine, tar, pitch, etc.
pine
1 American
[pahyn]
/ paɪn /
pine
2
American
[pahyn]
/ paɪn /
verb (used without object)
-
pines,
present (3rd person singular)
-
pined,
past participle, past
-
pining
present participle
-
to yearn deeply; suffer with longing; long painfully (often followed byfor ).
to pine for one's home and family.
-
to fail gradually in health or vitality from grief, regret, or longing (often followed byaway ).
Separated by their families, the lovers pined away.
-
Archaic. to be discontented; fret.
verb (used with object)
-
pines,
present (3rd person singular)
-
pined,
past participle, past
-
pining
present participle
noun
pine
1
British
/ paɪn /
noun
-
any evergreen resinous coniferous tree of the genus Pinus, of the N hemisphere, with long needle-shaped leaves and brown cones: family Pinaceae See also longleaf pine nut pine pitch pine Scots pine
-
any other tree or shrub of the family Pinaceae
-
the wood of any of these trees
-
any of various similar but unrelated plants, such as ground pine and screw pine
pine
2
British
/ paɪn /
verb
-
(intr; often foll by for or an infinitive) to feel great longing or desire; yearn
-
to become ill, feeble, or thin through worry, longing, etc
-
archaic (tr) to mourn or grieve for
Pine
3
British
/ paɪn /
noun
Synonym Usage
See yearn.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
pinesimple
-
pinessimple
-
have pinedperfect
-
has pinedperfect
-
am piningprogressive
-
are piningprogressive
-
is piningprogressive
-
have been piningperfect progressive
-
has been piningperfect progressive
Past
-
pinedsimple
-
had pinedperfect
-
was piningprogressive
-
were piningprogressive
-
had been piningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pine1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English pin(e), pigne, Old English pīntrēow “pine tree,” from Old French pin and Latin pīnus
Origin of pine2
First recorded before 900; Middle English pinen “to torture, torment, inflict pain, be in pain”; Old English pīnian “to torture,” derivative of pīn “torture” ( Middle English pine ), from Late Latin pēna, Latin poena “punishment”; see pain
Explanation
If you pine for someone, you desperately want to see them, be with them, or perhaps smother them with kisses. If you're texting your ex-boyfriend over 50 times a day, there's a pretty good chance that you still pine for him. In Old English, pine meant "to torture or cause to experience pain," which seems quite fitting if you've known what it's like to pine for something or someone. The verb pine should not be confused with the noun pine, as in the evergreen tree. If you are from the Northeast and find yourself living in the Caribbean, you may pine for the sight of a pine tree, but the lovely weather should ease the pain.
Vocabulary lists containing pine
Green
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Aretha Franklin (1942 - 2018) Tribute List
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The Taming of the Shrew
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
There he has dreams to create a community where elders who are hikers can live together in the montane longleaf pine ecosystem.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
Villages near the Adriatic city of Split were struck by the blaze, which coursed through pine forest-lined hillside, causing extensive damage to homes and cars.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Tractor Supply is responding by lowering prices on some of its popular items, including pine shavings for animal bedding and premium pet-food.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
To entice value-driven shoppers, Tractor Supply is offering promotions and lowering prices on popular items, including pine shavings for animal bedding and premium pet-food.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
The tall pine tree that I could spot a block away to lead me home, the flower bed Dad killed every year, the Visionary sitting on the front porch...
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
Most of it he leases from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
Chris Pine shows off his surprising fluency in Italian in this film about a pesky tween who convinces an aimless young woman to abduct her.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
Pine said the matter has been assigned for a City Attorney hearing, a pre-filing diversion that is an alternative to misdemeanor prosecution.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 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
Pine trees flanked the road, fewer than I remembered and many of them bare, but it was good to see trees again after the arduous drive through the Khyber Pass.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
“Invitation” begins with “Circus,” with Kelly made up as a clown who pines for a beautiful performer, danced by Claire Sombert, who is herself in love with a chiseled aerialist, played by Igor Youskevitch.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
"We're dealing with a very dense stand of closely packed pines," firefighter Captain Wilfried Schneider told AFP, describing a fire of "rare" intensity.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
Even now, poring through his footage, desperately looking for clues, McElwee pines for that larger view — the one that might somehow bring the boy back to his inconsolable father.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026
In western South Dakota’s Black Hills, where dense ponderosa pines make mountains appear black from afar, the historic Lead area is experiencing a luxury real-estate transformation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
It was as if the people in this city with the tall whistling pines wanted to grab all they could before the war robbed them of choices.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
And during their down years, Knicks die-hards pined for LeBron James or Kevin Durant to ride in to the rescue.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
And you can expect more such details to surface as we finally get the Succession epilogue its fans have pined for, with a Tom Wambsgans type in charge.
From Slate ● Feb. 4, 2026
Yet he felt compelled to hold a news conference at the Bears training camp in Lake Forest, Ill., to explain why he pined for playing in, say, Minnesota.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2025
Yet, there is one thing that Manilow has always pined for and now inspires some irrational fears: a Broadway show.
From New York Times ● Nov. 7, 2023
The most visionary of the brain busters pined for the day when a pilot could take one of their creations for a hypersonic joy ride: Mach 5 or faster.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
In Lagos, Itoro is still pining for his family.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
She’s a poet, and I think she really understands girlhood — the pining and the wanting to be accepted — and she does it in such a beautiful and majestic way.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
Investors have been pining to own SpaceX for years.
From Barron's ● May 24, 2026
It’s still an expansive saga, though a graceless opening had this viewer pining for the 2024 French version with Pierre Niney as Edmond Dantès.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026
Claudia had a longtime crush on a guy named Connor, pining for him through most of high school and at the start of college.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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.
