white spruce

American  

noun

1. a spruce, Picea glauca, of northern North America, having bluish-green needles and silvery-brown bark.

2. the light, soft wood of this tree, used for pulp and in the construction of boxes, crates, etc.

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white spruce British  

noun

1. a N North American spruce tree, Picea glauca, having grey bark, pale brown oblong cones, and bluish-green needle-like leaves

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Etymology

Origin of white spruce

First recorded in 1760–70

Compare meaning

How does white-spruce compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• white spruce vs. Norway spruce
• white spruce vs. blue spruce

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

white spruce

Already this year, thousands of white spruce trees in the area around Wisley had browned leaves in early August, a sign they won’t cope with a hotter climate.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

For him, the white spruce fossils were evidence.

From Salon ● Feb. 14, 2021

Last year was a “mast year,” he said, when white spruce trees produce a superabundance of cones, the squirrels’ favorite food.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 14, 2020

In the northernmost boreal forests of Alaska, where trees and tundra meet, Griffin and his students have installed thirty-six dendrometers on white spruce trees.

From The New Yorker ● Aug. 27, 2019

Of pines, the white spruce is the most common here: the red and black spruce, the balsam of Gilead fir, and Banksian pine, also occur frequently.

From Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea, in the Years 1819-20-21-22, Volume 1 by John Franklin