yew

an evergreen tree having needlelike or scalelike foliage

Not to be confused with:

ewe – a female sheep

you – the pronoun of the second-person singular or plural: You may come with me. This is for you.

yew

English yew

Taxus baccata

yew

(yo͞o)

1. Any of several poisonous evergreen coniferous trees or shrubs of the genus Taxus, having scarlet cup-shaped arils and flat needles that are dark green above and yellowish below. Yews contain compounds used in medicine and are often grown as ornamentals.

2. The wood of any of these trees, especially the durable, fine-grained wood of the Eurasian and North African species Taxus baccata, used in cabinetmaking and for archery bows.

[Middle English, from Old English īw.]

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.

yew

(juː)

1. (Plants) any coniferous tree of the genus Taxus, of the Old World and North America, esp T. baccata, having flattened needle-like leaves, fine-grained elastic wood, and solitary seeds with a red waxy aril resembling berries: family Taxaceae

2. (Forestry) the wood of any of these trees, used to make bows for archery

3. (Archery) archery a bow made of yew

[Old English īw; related to Old High German īwa, Old Norse ӯr yew, Latin ūva grape, Russian iva willow]

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

yew¹

(yu)

n.

1. any of several evergreen trees or shrubs of the genus Taxus, of the family Taxaceae, having needlelike foliage and seeds enclosed in a fleshy aril.

2. the fine-grained, elastic wood of any of these trees.

3. an archer's bow made of this wood.

[before 900; Middle English ew(e), Old English ēow, ī(o)w, c. Old Saxon īh, Old High German īga, īwa, Old Norse ýr, Middle Irish eó yew (Old Irish: stem, shaft), Welsh ywen yew tree, Russian íva willow]

yew²

(yu; unstressed yʊ)

pron.

Eye Dial. you.

yew

(yo͞o)

Any of various evergreen trees or shrubs that have short, flat needles and solitary seeds contained in a red, berry-like covering instead of a cone. Yews are found chiefly in cooler temperate regions in the Northern Hemisphere.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	yew - wood of a yew; especially the durable fine-grained light brown or red wood of the English yew valued for cabinetwork and archery bows yew - any of numerous evergreen trees or shrubs having red cup-shaped berries and flattened needlelike leaves wood - the hard fibrous lignified substance under the bark of trees
	2.	yew - any of numerous evergreen trees or shrubs having red cup-shaped berries and flattened needlelike leaves California nutmeg, nutmeg-yew, Torreya californica - California evergreen having a fruit resembling a nutmeg but with a strong turpentine flavor stinking cedar, stinking yew, Torrey tree, Torreya taxifolia - rare small evergreen of northern Florida; its glossy green leaves have an unpleasant fetid smell when crushed family Taxaceae, Taxaceae, yew family - sometimes classified as member of order Taxales yew - wood of a yew; especially the durable fine-grained light brown or red wood of the English yew valued for cabinetwork and archery bows English yew, Old World yew, Taxus baccata - predominant yew in Europe; extraordinarily long-lived and slow growing; one of the oldest species in the world California yew, Pacific yew, Taxus brevifolia, western yew - small or medium irregularly branched tree of the Pacific coast of North America; yields fine hard close-grained wood Japanese yew, Taxus cuspidata - shrubby hardy evergreen of China and Japan having lustrous dark green foliage; cultivated in the eastern United States Florida yew, Taxus floridana - small bushy yew of northern Florida having spreading branches and very narrow leaves Austrotaxus spicata, New Caledonian yew - large yew native to New Caledonia; cultivated in eastern Australia and New Zealand and Hawaii Pseudotaxus chienii, white-berry yew - yew of southeastern China, differing from the Old World yew in having white berries conifer, coniferous tree - any gymnospermous tree or shrub bearing cones

Translations

شَجَر الطَّقْسوسطَقْسُوس

tis

takstakstræ

EibeEibenholz

ήμερο έλατο

tejo

jugapuu

marjakuusi

tisa

tiszafa

ÿviîur, ÿr

tasso

イチイ櫟

주목

kukmedis

īve

tis

idegran

ต้นไม้ที่เขียวตลอดปี

porsuk ağacı

cây thủy tùng

紫杉紫杉木

yew

[juː] N (also yew tree) → tejo m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

yew

[ˈjuː] n → if mY-fronts® [ˈwaɪfrʌnts] npl (British) → slip m kangourou

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

yew

n (also yew tree) → Eibe f; (= wood) → Eibe (→ nholz nt) f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

yew

[juː] n (also yew tree) → tasso

yew

(juː) noun

a type of evergreen tree with dark leaves and red berries.

yew

→ طَقْسُوس tis taks Eibe ήμερο έλατο tejo marjakuusi if tisa tasso イチイ 주목 taxusboom barlind cis teixo тис idegran ต้นไม้ที่เขียวตลอดปี porsuk ağacı cây thủy tùng 紫杉

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

"There are two lines of old yew hedge, twelve feet high and impenetrable.

View in context

"Now," quoth Robin, "will I go too, for fain would I draw a string for the bright eyes of my lass and a butt of good October brewing." So up he got and took his good stout yew bow and a score or more of broad clothyard arrows, and started off from Locksley Town through Sherwood Forest to Nottingham.

View in context

A well-kept lawn, with six-hundred-years-old cedars and a twenty-feet yew hedge, will add distinction to the meal.

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Author of Father Goose-His Book; The Wizard of Oz; The Magical Monarch of Mo; The Enchanted Isle of Yew; The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus; Dot and Tot of Merryland etc.

View in context

The tree we selected is a ragged yew which consists of a broken trunk and one branch, and I viewed the ground with secret satisfaction, for it falls slightly at about four yards' distance from the tree, and this exactly suits my style of bowling.

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Never did cypress, or yew, or juniper so seem the embodiment of funeral gloom.

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The bow was made in England: Of true wood, of yew wood, The wood of English bows; So men who are free Love the old yew tree And the land where the yew tree grows.

View in context

He could lick any man in England, with one hand tied behind him; and he could take his yew bow and plug a ten-cent piece every time, a mile and a half."

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I, too, in the grey, small, antique structure, with its low roof, its latticed casements, its mouldering walls, its avenue of aged firs--all grown aslant under the stress of mountain winds; its garden, dark with yew and holly--and where no flowers but of the hardiest species would bloom--found a charm both potent and permanent.

View in context

And therein they saw, placed apart, an hundred and forty stout yew bows of cunning make, with fine waxen silk strings; and an hundred and forty sheaves of arrows.

View in context

So I was not surprised, still later on in my life, to recognize instantly, the first time I saw them, trees such as the spruce, the yew, the birch, and the laurel.

View in context

They will feed on barley-meal and flour of wheat, baking and kneading them, making noble cakes and loaves; these they will serve up on a mat of reeds or on clean leaves, themselves reclining the while upon beds strewn with yew or myrtle.

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