birch
1
9.9
- noun
- /bɜrʧ/
- Archaic
:
vara de abedul
- In the past, students were sometimes punished with a birch for misbehaving in school.
- a birch twig
- a birch switch
Examples
-
There is plenty of firewood, and birch trees aplenty for the traditional birch switches.
Academic text (1990) -
"One birch twig I pull out of the bloody bundle.
Academic text (2016) -
This sack also serves as a threat of punishment, for which a birch rod can substitute.
Academic text (1993) -
During the ceremony, the village elder used a birch to lightly strike the troublesome boy as a lesson.
-
Each spring, the fishermen prepared birch switches as part of their old customs to discipline their young apprentices.
Synonyms
A bundle of thin birch twigs used to hit someone as punishment
Antonyms
Compounds
- US
1
7.2
A light boat made from birch tree bark and used by Native people in North America
- US
1
6.5
A tree with reddish-brown bark that grows near rivers and swamps in the eastern United States
- Specialized
1
5.8
A North American tree with peeling reddish-brown bark that grows near rivers and in swamps
- US
A birch tree with dark reddish bark and a strong smell that grows in eastern North America
- US
A North American birch tree with white bark that peels and whose bark people use to make canoes and baskets
- US
A tree from eastern North America with spicy brown bark and strong dark wood used for furniture
- UK
A tree with silvery white bark that peels in thin papery layers and drooping branches
A small shrub with low, spreading branches that grows in cold northern regions
A medium-sized birch tree with white or pale grey bark from eastern North America
A small North American tree with white bark that peels, used for baskets and toy canoes
- US
A medium-sized birch tree with pale gray bark that grows in eastern North America in old fields and burned areas
- Specialized
A small birch that grows as a low shrub in cold parts of North America and Greenland
A small North American tree with white bark that peels and is used for canoes and baskets
- US
A birch tree from the western United States with brownish bark that grows in wetlands
An oil with a minty smell that you rub on skin to ease minor muscle and joint pain
- US
A North American tree with dark bark that smells like mint and has hard wood used for furniture
- US
A birch tree that grows by streams in the western United States and has brown bark
- Specialized
A tree with brownish bark that grows in western parts of the United States
A birch tree from the western United States with brown bark and thin branches
- Specialized
A tree that grows in Alaska and northern Canada with pale white bark
Surface Forms
Etymology
Birch as a noun also comes from beorc and came to mean a bundle of twigs from the birch tree that people used for punishment, so a 'birch' can mean the twigs used for beating.