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red spruce
noun
: a spruce (Picea rubens) of the eastern U.S. and Canada that has pubescent twigs and yellowish-green needles and is an important source of lumber and pulpwood
Examples of red spruce in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Despite this, only two tree nurseries out of the study’s survey of 20 states had red spruce.
—Elizabeth Gamillo, Discover Magazine, 18 Aug. 2023
The timberlands here are rich and varied: maple, oak, beech, birch, mountain ash, and the placer gold of timber, red spruce, prized by the lumber mills for its grain, strength, and beauty.
—Mark Orwoll, Travel + Leisure, 5 Oct. 2023
In 2022, only 800 red spruce seeds were commercially available for purchase.
—Elizabeth Gamillo, Discover Magazine, 18 Aug. 2023
Over that time, the group has collected supporters, including U.S. Forest Service rangers trying to bring back the red spruce onto national forests in West Virginia, and bourbon companies interested in the sustainability of white oak trees that are used in barrels to store and age whiskey.
—Elena Shao Maddie McGarvey, New York Times, 16 Sep. 2022
The project amplifies old-growth red spruce trees in Massachusetts, which are also used to create various musical instruments, including pianos and guitars.
—Paulina Subia, BostonGlobe.com, 14 May 2023
The short trail also packs a punch, passing through a high-alpine Frasier fir and red spruce forest that’s more common in northern climates and climbing rocky outcroppings before hitting the summit proper, where an observation platform and long-range views of the park await.
—Graham Averill, Outside Online, 7 Oct. 2020
Its 900,000-acre red spruce–northern hardwood forest is a reforestation success story; logging and wildfires obliterated the ecologically diverse region until the early 1900s, when conservationists stepped in.
—Stephanie Vermillion, Outside Online, 18 June 2022
The nonprofit group, together with the U.S. Forest Service, has been working to restore the red spruce ecosystem on 2,500 acres of land in Monongahela that had been mined for coal.
—Elena Shao Maddie McGarvey, New York Times, 16 Sep. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'red spruce.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1740, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near red spruce
Cite this Entry
“Red spruce.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/red%20spruce. Accessed 10 Jun. 2024.
Kids Definition
red spruce
noun
: a spruce of the eastern U.S. and Canada that is an important source of lumber and pulpwood
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