red birch
- noun
- /rɛd bɜːrtʃ/
- US
- The red birch tree stood tall by the river.
Examples
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The forest was dotted with red birch rising beside the marshy riverbank.
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Many birds nest in the branches of the red birch during spring.
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We identified the tree as a red birch by its distinctive reddish-brown bark.
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I saw a red birch in the park yesterday.
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The craftsman chose to use red birch for its beautiful reddish-brown bark in the sculpture.
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In the wetlands, you can often find red birch trees thriving near the water's edge.
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During our hike, we spotted several red birch trees marked by their striking bark color.
Synonyms
A tree with thin white bark that peels and slender branches
A North American tree with peeling reddish-brown bark that grows near rivers and in swamps
A tree with reddish-brown peeling bark that grows along rivers and in wet ground
A tree with white, peeling bark and small leaves
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a straightforward adjective + noun combination: a B1 learner who knows 'red' (a color) and 'birch' (a tree) will infer it denotes a birch tree that is red in color. This color‑noun compositional pattern is common across languages and standard in English, so the core meaning is immediately derivable (habitat details in the dictionary definition are supplementary).
Etymology
The name red birch comes from the tree's reddish-brown bark: the word red points to the colour of the trunk and birch is the type of tree. Because these trees often grow near rivers and marshes, people used the name to mean the birch with red bark you find in wet places.