资料来源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Spruce \Spruce\, n. [OE. Spruce or Pruse, Prussia, Prussian. So
   named because it was first known as a native of Prussia, or
   because its sprouts were used for making, spruce beer. Cf.
   Spruce beer, below, {Spruce}, a.]
   1. (Bot.) Any coniferous tree of the genus {Picea}, as the
      Norway spruce ({P. excelsa}), and the white and black
      spruces of America ({P. alba} and {P. nigra}), besides
      several others in the far Northwest. See {Picea}.

   2. The wood or timber of the spruce tree.

   3. Prussia leather; pruce. [Obs.]

            Spruce, a sort of leather corruptly so called for
            Prussia leather.                      --E. Phillips.

   {Douglas spruce} (Bot.), a valuable timber tree ({Pseudotsuga
      Douglasii}) of Northwestern America.

   {Essence of spruce}, a thick, dark-colored, bitterish, and
      acidulous liquid made by evaporating a decoction of the
      young branches of spruce.

   {Hemlock spruce} (Bot.), a graceful coniferous tree ({Tsuga
      Canadensis}) of North America. Its timber is valuable, and
      the bark is largely used in tanning leather.

   {Spruce beer}. [G. sprossenbier; sprosse sprout, shoot (akin
      to E. sprout, n.) + bier beer. The word was changed into
      spruce because the beer came from Prussia (OE. Spruce), or
      because it was made from the sprouts of the spruce. See
      {Sprout}, n., {Beer}, and cf. {Spruce}, n.] A kind of beer
      which is tinctured or flavored with spruce, either by
      means of the extract or by decoction.

   {Spruce grouse}. (Zo["o]l.) Same as {Spruce partridge},
      below.

   {Spruce leather}. See {Spruce}, n., 3.

   {Spruce partridge} (Zo["o]l.), a handsome American grouse
      ({Dendragapus Canadensis}) found in Canada and the
      Northern United States; -- called also {Canada grouse}.



   {Ground rattlesnake} (Zo["o]l.), a small rattlesnake
      ({Caudisona, or Sistrurus, miliaria}) of the Southern
      United States, having a small rattle. It has nine large
      scales on its head.

   {Rattlesnake fern} (Bot.), a common American fern
      ({Botrychium Virginianum}) having a triangular decompound
      frond and a long-stalked panicle of spore cases rising
      from the middle of the frond.

   {Rattlesnake grass} (Bot.), a handsome American grass
      ({Glyceria Canadensis}) with an ample panicle of rather
      large ovate spikelets, each one composed of imbricated
      parts and slightly resembling the rattle of the
      rattlesnake. Sometimes called {quaking grass}.

   {Rattlesnake plantain} (Bot.), See under {Plantain}.

   {Rattlesnake root} (Bot.), a name given to certain American
      species of the composite genus {Prenanthes} ({P. alba} and
      {P. serpentaria}), formerly asserted to cure the bite of
      the rattlesnake. Calling also {lion's foot}, {gall of the
      earth}, and {white lettuce}.

   {Rattlesnake's master} (Bot.)
   (a) A species of Agave ({Agave Virginica}) growing in the
       Southern United States.
   (b) An umbelliferous plant ({Eryngium yucc[ae]folium}) with
       large bristly-fringed linear leaves.
   (c) A composite plant, the blazing star ({Liatris
       squarrosa}).

   {Rattlesnake weed} (Bot.), a plant of the composite genus
      {Hieracium} ({H. venosum}); -- probably so named from its
      spotted leaves. See also {Snakeroot}.