tree fern

noun

any of various ferns, mostly tropical and chiefly of the family Cyatheaceae, that attain the size of trees, sending up a straight trunklike stem with foliage at the summit.

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Origin of tree fern

First recorded in 1840–50

Words nearby tree fern

tree creeper, tree cricket, tree diagram, tree ear, tree farm, tree fern, tree frog, tree fuchsia, tree heath, tree house, tree hyrax

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for tree fern

It did not take me long to find the pool, close against the blackened stump of a tree-fern.
Prester John|John Buchan
But suddenly he saw swiftly-moving winkings of sunlight from the edge of the tree-fern forest.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science January 1931|Various
And once Tommy saw twin, monstrous eyes, gazing from the blackness of the tree-fern forest.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science January 1931|Various
A Tree-Fern, Dicksonia arborescens, with a young one near its base.
The Elements of Botany|Asa Gray

Minutes later they returned, dragging masses of tree-fern fronds with which they masked the globe from view.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science January 1931|Various

British Dictionary definitions for tree fern

tree fern

noun

any of numerous large tropical ferns, mainly of the family Cyatheaceae, having a trunklike stem bearing fronds at the top

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