spindle tree

British

noun

any of various shrubs or trees of the genus Euonymus, esp E. europaeus, of Europe and W Asia, typically having red fruits and yielding a hard wood formerly used in making spindles: family Celastraceae

"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

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.

In the nutmeg and spindle tree this additional coat is formed from above downwards, constituting in the former case a laciniated scarlet covering called mace.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 "Frost" to "Fyzabad" by Various

The fruit of which they make it comes from "Arabia the Happy," and the tree that I saw looks like a spindle tree, but the leaves are thicker, tougher, and greener.

From All About Coffee by Ukers, William H. (William Harrison)

Half hidden by a spindle tree, they were sitting on the grass in the middle of the lawn.

From A Love Episode by Zola, Émile

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023