Read full poem →From the soldier at my side,
As in all his spruce attire
Failed the everlasting fire.
Dictionary Entry
To make neat and tidy; smarten up oneself or one's appearance.
In a Sentence
“He quickly spruced his hair and straightened his tie before entering the room.”
Origin
Originally referring to the spruce tree, named after Prussia. The verb meaning relates to making something neat like the tree.
Common Phrases
Still being gathered for this entry.
Missing dictionary details are being fetched in the background.
Poetry examples for “spruce”
Excerpts from the ReadingWillow English Library collection.
Read full poem →And feel the soft sea-laden breeze
Strike my flushed face, the spruce’s fair
Free limbs to see, the lesser trees’
Read full poem →“po7eartid SWieted gasp Davee BAT 2650 Spruce. | AS nber-d Lead
Acco Western Corp 2040 Livi Acheson Elsie M Mrs 1321Lincin(B) .LAnscpe 6-8300
Read full poem →What this man brought in a cotton sack
Was gum, the gum of the mountain spruce.
He showed me lumps of the scented stuff
Read full poem →"Good-night to woods." But not so; there was more.
A doe from round a spruce stood looking at them
Across the wall, as near the wall as they.