white cedar

American  

noun

1. any of several chiefly coniferous trees valued for their wood, especially Chamaecyparis thyoides, of the eastern U.S., or Thuja occidentalis northern white cedar, of northeastern North America.

2. the wood of any of these trees.

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white cedar British  

noun

1. a coniferous tree, Chamaecyparis thyoides, of swampy regions in North America, having scalelike leaves and boxlike cones: family Cupressaceae See also cypress 1

2. the wood of this tree, which is used for building boats, etc

3. a coniferous tree, Thuja occidentalis, of NE North America, having scalelike leaves: family Cupressaceae See also arbor vitae

4. the wood of this tree, much used for telegraph poles

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Etymology

Origin of white cedar

An Americanism dating back to 1665–75

Example Sentences

The notes range from ginger to orris root, white cedar and vetiver.

From Los Angeles Times • May 28, 2024

An estimated 500,000 acres of Atlantic white cedar forests once stretched from Maine to northern Florida and along parts of the Gulf of Mexico coast, with 115,000 acres in New Jersey alone.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 23, 2021

Holcomb and his students redid the interior and exterior surfaces in white cedar from boards milled by an Amish community in Ohio.

From Washington Times • Dec. 25, 2020

A small branch of foraged white cedar adds a woodsy note, but juniper berries achieve a similar effect.

From New York Times • Nov. 4, 2019

The eastern representative of the cypresses in the United States of North America is C. thyoides, popularly known as the white cedar.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 508, September 26, 1885 by Various