to spruce
- verb
- /spruːs/
- Informal
- So, we'll have to spruce the place up a bit.
It's kind of it's like sprucing up a corpse at this point with some flowers.
- It's kind of it's like sprucing up a corpse at this point with some flowers.
- And then try to to spruce it up a little bit with with the real guys.
- Well, there's listen, like there are certain things of like iconic movies that just kind of like spruces it up a little bit.
- I was in there doing a lot of painting, sprucing it up.
- But no, let me just spruce you up a little sand.
- Hey, hey, you ain't got to do too much to Marie to spruce it up.
Examples
-
Yeah, I just want to spruce up the outfit a little bit.
-
what I mean is if you spruce it up a little you get a better price
-
Every year I plan to spruce up the decor, but I never get around to it.
Blog text (5) -
I love to choose a few new colors to spruce up my makeup palette.
Blog text (24) -
Wednesday we'll rearrange the furniture and spruce up the lawn.
Fiction book (1991) -
If you're ready to make a sale, here are some ways to spruce up your autumn yard.
Blog text (27) -
"Home Savvy" provides insightful tips and creative solutions for sprucing up and adding color to your home.
Blog text (9) -
Stewards were resetting the tables, sprucing the flowers for the evening visitors.
Academic text (2016) -
Whenever you've got anything to sell, whether it's a carriage, a steamboat, or an actress, you've got to spruce it up.
-
Before the guests arrive, we need to spruce up the living room to make it look inviting.
Synonyms
To make something look nicer by adding paint, ornaments, or other items
Make something look nicer or more attractive for a special event
To make a place or person more attractive by adding decorations like paint
Make something or someone look fancier by adding decorations
To get ready by fixing your clothes, hair, or makeup carefully
Make yourself look attractive by dressing and doing your hair or makeup
Make people and places look nicer by dressing up, adding decorations, or using makeup
To dress or decorate in a fancy way to look nicer
Make a room look cleaner and nicer with small changes
To make something look neater and more attractive with small changes
To make someone or something look neater and more attractive
Make a person or place look neater and nicer by cleaning and adding small things
To dress up and make yourself look attractive for a special event
Make yourself or someone more stylish using clothes and makeup
Make something look more attractive, often only on the surface
Make yourself or a place look neater and more stylish
To make a place or yourself neat and look nicer
To make something or yourself look neat and attractive
Make a person look neat and more attractive by dressing and grooming them carefully
To put on fancy clothes to look good
To dress neatly and formally for an event
To dress carefully to look fancy
Make something look more attractive by adding decorations
Make something look more stylish and attractive
Antonyms
Phrasal Verbs
Compounds
- US
A large evergreen tree from the northwest coast of North America with sharp needles and light strong wood
- US
A medium-sized evergreen tree with short blue-green needles and thin cones that grows in cold places
- Specialized
A tree from California with very large cones four to eight inches long
A medium-sized spruce tree with hanging branches that grows in California and Oregon
A tall evergreen tree with blue-green needles and lower branches that sweep downward
A tall tree with blue-green needles and a cone-shaped form often used in gardens
A tall evergreen tree from northwestern North America with short needles and egg-shaped cones
A medium-sized evergreen tree from eastern North America that people use for wood and paper
A tall spruce tree with blue-green needles that grows in high mountain forests
A tall evergreen tree with blue-green needles that grows in the Rocky Mountains and British Columbia
- Specialized
A tall evergreen tree with dark green needles and drooping branches often grown in gardens
A tall evergreen tree from northern Europe and Asia with long needles that survives very cold winters
A tall evergreen tree with blue-green needles and lower branches that sweep down as it ages
- Specialized
A small insect that makes holes in the bark of spruce trees and often kills them
- Specialized
A small shrubby evergreen with two needles per group and scaly square bark
- Specialized
A small evergreen tree that grows in wet bogs with dense branches and poor wood
- Specialized
A small insect that makes pineapple-shaped growths on young spruce branches
- Specialized
A forest bird that lives in pine and fir woods and eats evergreen needles
- Specialized
A tall evergreen tree with two needles per group and light soft wood used for pulp
A small animal with a bushy tail that lives in northern forests and eats spruce cones
A medium-sized spruce tree with long hanging branches from California and Oregon
A medium-sized evergreen tree from eastern North America that people use for lumber and paper
How Neat
Surface Forms
Etymology
Spruce (to make neat) comes from an older use of spruce meaning items 'from Prussia' and later 'smart' for fine clothes, so to 'spruce up' is to make someone or something look smart and tidy. A helpful way to remember it is to think of cleaning or dressing to look well put together.