spruce

UK: /ˈspruːs/ US: /sprus/ ,(spro̅o̅s)

Inflections of 'spruce' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

spruces

v 3rd person singular

sprucing

v pres p

spruced

v past

spruced

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

spruce¹ /sprus/   n. 

1. Plant Biology [countable] a tree of the pine family, having short, angled, needle-shaped leaves.
2. Plant Biology [countable] a related tree, such as the Douglas fir.
3. [uncountable] the wood of any of these trees.

spruce² /sprus/   adj., spruc•er, spruc•est, v., spruced, spruc•ing. 
adj. 

1. trim or smart in appearance;
   neat;
   tidy.

v. 

2. to make (oneself or something else) trim or tidy: [~ + up + object]
   Let me spruce up the apartment.
   [~ + object + up]
   Let's spruce the place up with some new flowers.
   [~ + up]
   Let me just spruce up before your parents arrive.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

spruce¹ (spro̅o̅s),  n. 

1. Plant Biology any evergreen, coniferous tree of the genus Picea, of the pine family, having short, angular, needle-shaped leaves attached singly around twigs and bearing hanging cones with persistent scales.
2. Plant Biology any of various allied trees, as the Douglas fir and the hemlock spruce.
3. the wood of any such tree.

adj. 

4. made from the wood of a spruce tree or trees.
5. containing or abounding in spruce trees.

• Medieval Latin Prussia Prussia, whence the timber came
• Old French Pruce
• Middle English, special use of Spruce, sandhi variant of Pruce 1350–1400

spruce² (spro̅o̅s),  adj., spruc•er, spruc•est, v., spruced, spruc•ing. 

adj. 

1. trim in dress or appearance;
   neat;
   smart;
   dapper.

v.t. 

2. to make spruce or smart (often fol. by up):
   Spruce up the children before the company comes.

v.i. 

3. to make oneself spruce (usually fol. by up).

• obsolete spruce jerkin origin, originally, jerkin made of spruce leather, i.e., leather imported from Prussia (see spruce¹), hence fine, smart, etc. 1580–90

spruce′ly, adv. 
spruce′ness, n. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

spruce / spruːs/ noun

1. any coniferous tree of the N temperate genus Picea, cultivated for timber and for ornament: family Pinaceae. They grow in a pyramidal shape and have needle-like leaves and light-coloured wood
   See also Norway spruce, white spruce
2. the wood of any of these trees

Etymology: 17th Century: short for Spruce fir, from C14 Spruce Prussia, changed from Pruce, via Old French from Latin Prussia

spruce / spruːs/ adjective

1. neat, smart, and trim

Etymology: 16th Century: perhaps from Spruce leather a fashionable leather imported from Prussia; see spruce¹

ˈsprucely adverb

ˈspruceness noun