A birch or a birch tree is a type of tall tree with thin branches.
2. singular noun [theNOUN]
The birch is a punishment in which someone is hit with a wooden stick.
birch in British English
(bɜːtʃ)
noun
1.
any betulaceous tree or shrub of the genus Betula, having thin peeling bark
See also silver birch
2.
the hard close-grained wood of any of these trees
3. the birch
adjective
4.
of, relating to, or belonging to the birch
5.
consisting or made of birch
verb
6. (transitive)
to flog with a birch
Derived forms
birchen (ˈbirchen)
adjective
Word origin
Old English bierce; related to Old High German birihha, Sanskrit bhūrja
birch in American English
(bɜrtʃ)
noun
1.
any of a genus (Betula) of trees and shrubs of the birch family, having smooth bark easily peeled off in thin sheets, and hard, closegrained wood: found in northern climates
2.
the wood of any of these trees
3.
a birch rod or bunch of twigs used for whipping
verb transitive
4.
to beat with a birch
adjective
5.
designating a family (Betulaceae, order Fagales) of dicotyledonous shrubs and trees, includingthe hazels, alders, and hornbeams
6.
of birch
: also ˈbirchen
Word origin
ME birche < OE beorc < IE base *bhereĝ-, to gleam, white > bright
The cable car sails over silver birch and pines and patches of snow.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The crossing cuts though a tranquil landscape of birch forests and pristine lakes.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Around the lodge were open fields, a stream fringed with reeds, and groves of silver birch.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Out have gone the unforgiving birch fences with the giant drops.
The Sun (2015)
They are most likely to be seen in small flocks in birch trees.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Willow warblers are singing in birch woods where the trees are not too tall.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
You can almost smell the birch bark.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
There was a little birch tree halfway up the hill which rises steeply to the southwest.
Eddison, Sydney A Patchwork Garden: Unexpected Pleasures from a Country Garden (1990)
They made shoes from birch bark and clothes from hemp cloth.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Birch bark tends to peel off around the trunk in rings.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
We walked though a knee-high lawn of regeneration where birch and oak was back in.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Available in birch, oak or walnut.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The darling yellow trumpets are thrusting up in fir and birch woods across Scotland for our delight.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Ash is the most common tree, although oak and birch grow there too.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
But slim as the groves of birch trees were, they were not silver.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
A small grove of silver birch trees will sit amid a dense drift of yellow autumn leaves.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Keep the lone silver birch to your right and make sure you don't end up in one of the many little pools.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The pleasure of being able to walk home each day through oak and birch woods, with the trees changing colours in the autumn.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
A white strip of birch bark blowing up from the hollow over the brown floor of the grove made her heart stand still.
LM Montgomery Anne of Green Gables (1872)
In mainland Europe they nest in birch forests, but they have rarely tried to breed here.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Ash is the third (after oak and birch) most common tree in these islands.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
They are found across much of Asia in summer, and make domed nests in the birch forests.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
On either side and above is a tunnel of bamboo, dense arching shrubs and silver birch, ending in a clearing.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
On many silver birch trees, especially young ones, there are still pale yellow leaves fluttering in the wind on the lower branches.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Word lists with
birch
tree, wood
In other languages
birch
British English: birch /bɜːtʃ/ NOUN
A birch is a tall tree with thin branches.
American English: birch
Arabic: شَجَرَةُ البَتُولا
Brazilian Portuguese: vidoeiro
Chinese: 桦树
Croatian: breza
Czech: bříza
Danish: birk
Dutch: berk
European Spanish: abedul
Finnish: koivu
French: bouleau
German: Birke
Greek: σημύδα
Italian: betulla
Japanese: 樺
Korean: 자작나무
Norwegian: bjørk
Polish: brzoza
European Portuguese: bétula
Romanian: mesteacăn
Russian: береза
Latin American Spanish: abedul
Swedish: björk
Thai: ต้นไม้ชนิดหนึ่ง
Turkish: huş ağacı
Ukrainian: береза
Vietnamese: cây bulô
All related terms of 'birch'
the birch
a bundle of birch twigs or a birch rod used, esp formerly, for flogging offenders
birch wood
A wood is a fairly large area of trees growing near each other. You can refer to one or several of these areas as woods , and this is the usual form in American English.
paper birch
the North American birch ( Betula papyrifera ), having white or ash-colored, paperlike bark
white birch
any of several birch trees with white bark , such as the silver birch of Europe and the paper birch of North America
silver birch
A silver birch is a tree with a greyish-white trunk and branches.
birch partridge
→ ruffed grouse
John Birch Society
a fanatical right-wing association organized along semisecret lines to fight Communism