First recorded in 1715–25
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
So in that case, you treat it more like the Yule log, right, at Christmas time.
From Salon ● Feb. 9, 2025
In Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, hundreds of worshipers gathered outside St. Sava Temple, the largest Serbian Orthodox church, for the traditional burning of dried oak branches that symbolize the Yule log.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 6, 2022
Oysters, frog’s leg-chervil soup and an ice cream Yule log round out the meal, $98: 30 East 20th Street, 212-267-7426, lecoqriconyc.com.
From New York Times ● Dec. 13, 2016
Every year, my parents, my older brother, and I would haul out our fake tree from the basement and watch the Yule log on WPIX.
From Slate ● Jun. 17, 2016
“Great!” said Roger, “and we’ll have a Yule log blazing, and we’ll all wear our fur coats.”
From Patty's Summer Days by Wells, Carolyn
The yule log, for example, existed during the Viking era.
From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2025
As with most holiday-related rituals, digging into the history of the yule log as a TV tradition dispels some of its mystical wonder, revealing its origin in desperate necessity.
From Salon ● Dec. 18, 2025
The sound of the fire, crackling and popping, struck Borsay as weirdly familiar, like the YouTube yule log video he put on at Christmas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2025
After an intimate March release party at Neumos, the Kraken investor gets his first real, uh, crack at the house of hockey with this two-night holiday blowout just days before lighting the YouTube yule log.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 11, 2023
The yule log burned on the hearth and flaming torches filled the sconces.
From "The Door in the Wall" by Marguerite de Angeli
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
