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tulip tree

tulip tree

1 5.2
A tall North American tree that has large yellow and green tulip-shaped flowers and soft pale wood for furniture
  • noun
  • /ˈtuːlɪp triː/
  • US
translation icon : árbol tulipán
  • Hundred-foot tulip trees blanket the sky with a translucent dark green, and the bald face of the Manhattan schist rises abruptly to one of the highest natural spots on the island.
  • tulip tree and maple
  • tulip trees and oaks
  • branches of the tulip tree

There Emily Dickinson pressed a leaf from a Tulip tree.

Examples

  • They walked down the creek bank beyond the pasture and then stopped in a mixed stand of oak and tulip trees.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Just behind the Nature Center is a forested trail with a number of huge tulip trees.

    Academic text (2010)
  • Safely in the middle of the middle block, the only thing that stands out is the wild army of tulip trees in the front yard.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Today, my neighbor's tulip tree is full of beautiful blooms.

    Blog text (6)
  • A tulip tree shaded her there, and she stood inside that shadow, turning slowly and taking in the peeling pink on the museum's walls.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Mostly, though, I think about the beauty of the woods: maples, tulip trees, oaks, black cherries, birches.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • A broad street, fringed with grass and tulip trees, goes inland, and on either side are massive white buildings with arched and pillared arcades.

    Blog text (22)
  • In spring, the tulip tree blooms with striking greenish-yellow flowers that attract many bees.

  • The tall tulip tree in the park provides shade for families during the hot summer days.

  • When visiting the forest, I was amazed by the enormous tulip tree standing majestically among the other trees.

Synonyms

tulip poplar
vstulip tree
  • US
1 6.6

A tall North American tree with tulip-shaped yellow-green flowers and soft white wood used for furniture

is the preferred name in this entry rather than this variant
yellow poplar
vstulip tree
  • US
6.5

A tall tree from North America that loses its leaves and has greenish-yellow tulip-shaped flowers

is the formal or primary name used in general descriptions
Liriodendron tulipifera
vstulip tree
  • Specialized
9.9

A tall North American tree with tulip-shaped yellow-green flowers and soft white wood used for furniture

is the everyday common name rather than the technical Latin term
canary whitewood
vstulip tree
  • US
9.9

A tall North American tree with tulip-shaped yellow flowers and soft white wood used for cabinets

is the standard botanical name rather than a wood-focused label

Surface Forms

tulip tree singular
tulip trees plural

Morphology

tulip + tree

The meaning 'a tree with tulip-like flowers' is directly and compositionally derived from 'tulip' + 'tree' — a straightforward noun+noun compound describing a type of tree. This compounding pattern (e.g. 'apple tree', 'cherry tree') is common in English and across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Tulip tree is named for the large, cup-shaped flowers that look like a tulip on a tall tree. So the name simply means 'tree with tulip-like flowers'.