spindle tree

spindle tree

n.

See euonymus.

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[So called because the wood is often used to make spindles.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

spindle tree

n

(Plants) any of various shrubs or trees of the genus Euonymus, esp E. europaeus, of Europe and W Asia, typically having red fruits and yielding a hard wood formerly used in making spindles: family Celastraceae

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

eu•on•y•mus

(yuˈɒn ə məs)

n.

any shrub or vine of the genus Euonymus, of the staff-tree family, usu. having glossy evergreen leaves and clusters of orange or red fruits in open capsules. Also called spindle tree.

[1760–70; < New Latin; Latin, n. use of Greek euṓnymos of good name]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

spindle tree - any shrubby trees or woody vines of the genus Euonymus having showy usually reddish berries spindleberry, spindleberry tree Euonymus, genus Euonymus - widely distributed chiefly evergreen shrubs or small trees or vines common spindle tree, Euonymus europaeus - small erect deciduous shrub having tough white wood and cathartic bark and fruit Euonymous alatus, winged spindle tree - bushy deciduous shrub with branches having thin wide corky longitudinal wings; brilliant red in autumn; northeastern Asia to central China bush, shrub - a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems

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