Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

white poplar

American  

noun

  1. Also called abele.  an Old World poplar, Populus alba, widely cultivated in the U.S., having the underside of the leaves covered with a dense silvery-white down.

  2. the soft, straight-grained wood of this tree.


white poplar British  

noun

  1. Also called: abele.  a Eurasian salicaceous tree, Populus alba, having leaves covered with dense silvery-white hairs

  2. another name for tulipwood

"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

Etymology

Origin of white poplar

An Americanism dating back to 1765–75

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.

Chinese white-birch plywood sandwiches sheets of white poplar wood between outer layers of birch veneer, which is peeled from logs that are typically harvested in Siberian forests.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026

The arches over the doors were painted with black cows, white poplar trees, and owls.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

It is formed of an almost uninterrupted succession of sandhills crowned with a tolerably rich vegetation; on it grow the white poplar, the aleppo and the umbrella pines.

From In Troubadour-Land A Ramble in Provence and Languedoc by Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)

We have charming glimpses of him enjoying in company the hospitable shade of huge pine and white poplar on the grassy terrace of some rose-perfumed Italian garden with noisy fountain and hurrying stream.

From Horace and His Influence by Showerman, Grant

Come, Bind your hair with white poplar, Let your lips be sweet, Wild roses of Paestum.

From Some Imagist Poets, 1916 An Annual Anthology by Aldington, Richard

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Look it up. Learn it forever.

Remember "white poplar" for good with VocabTrainer. Expand your vocabulary effortlessly with personalized learning tools that adapt to your goals.

Take me to Vocabulary.com