Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of various mostly needle-leaved or scale-leaved, chiefly evergreen, cone-bearing gymnospermous trees or shrubs such as pines, spruces, and firs.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In botany, a plant producing cones; one of the Coniferæ.
Wiktionary
- n. botany A plant belonging to the conifers; a cone-bearing seed plant with vascular tissue, usually a tree.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Bot.) A tree or shrub bearing cones; one of the order Coniferae, which includes the pine, cypress, and (according to some) the yew.
WordNet 3.0
- n. any gymnospermous tree or shrub bearing cones
Etymologies
- From Latin conifer (bearing cones), compound of conus (cone) and ferre (to bear) (Wiktionary)
- From New Latin Cōniferae, family name, from Latin, feminine pl. of cōnifer, cone-bearing : cōnus, cone (from Greek kōnos; see kō- in Indo-European roots) + -fer, -fer. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Originally classified as a conifer, scientists later argued that it was instead a lichen, various types of algae or a fungus.”
“We find a conifer which is almost pyramidal and just about the right height, and I set to work with my ax.”
“It is an easy-going, fast-growing deciduous conifer, also known as a Dawn Redwood.”
“The magnificent forests there were mixed conifer/hardwood woodlands of great beauty and big paper mills came in there in the 1950s and guaranteed my friends the landowners that there would be more board feet of timber on the then virgin forestlands at the end of their proposed 99 year lease for tree harvesting than at the commencement of the lease.”
“First, the conifer takes root where no one else will go think cold, short growing seasons and rocky, nutrient-poor soil.”
The Wall Street Journal: Christmas Trees and the Logic of Growth
“Spruce is the only conifer on the "will usually not eat" list.”
The Washington Post: Fewer and fewer plants are truly deer-resistent
“He highlighted the need to keep up pressure on the separate programme of replanting in ancient woodlands damaged by conifer introduction in the 19th century, as at the internationally important site of special scientific interest, Grass Wood near Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales.”
The Guardian: Campaigners not out of the woods in bid to save forests
“Besides, it would have been so much easier to make a cross -- the main symbol of Christ -- and put it up on the old hut wall than to cut down a conifer and drag that into their dwelling.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘conifer’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Words from Blood Meridian
visage, affray, scullery, miasma, mirth, purlieu, tacit, benighted, wickiup, corral, amble, accoutre and 210 more...
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Dinosaurs, extended
At first, this was a list for things found in Dinosaurs: A Concise Natural History by David E. Fastovsky. But now it's degenerated a bit to contain anything dinosaur or fossil related.
disarticulate, body fossil, trace fossil, apatite, soft anatomy, permineralization, replacement, articulated, disarticulated, intestine’s-eye view, ichnofossil, paleoenvironment and 270 more...
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minneapolitan's Words
hissyfit, fussbudget, aghast, lament, trichinellosis, tranche, decadent, aspersion, pejorative, aniline, galoshes, accede and 200 more...
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Trees!
mahogany, sequoia, balsa, sandalwood, tamarind, balsam, eucalyptus, birch, willow, buttonwood, evergreen, loblolly and 501 more...
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Carry Me Home
Another kind of bear list: words bearing the -fer suffix ("that which carries"), the -ferous suffix ("bearing," "producing," or "yielding").
Also see (if you like) Carry Me Home Again.aquifer, conifer, umbellifer, transfer, thurifer, defer, telfer, suffer, rotifer, refer, foraminifer, poriferous and 157 more...
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ginnylev's Words
neuroplasticity, repudiate, scintilla, ruminate, tautology, ombudsman, exigent, filibuster, grace, ambidextrous, amends, disclosure and 623 more...
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5-0
Hecko, words! I’m so happy I’ve found you. I want to keep you all and never want to lose you again. I hope you like it here.
amscray, thistledown, tine, tinsel, pungent, snarl, wail, lanky, viscid, dawdle, luminous, stow and 2719 more...
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frequent toefl
Words that I do not know or unsure for toefl
appurtenances, aptitude, arbitrary, arboretum, argot, arrears, avocation, avuncular, badger, bait, warden, bane and 428 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
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Flowers/plants
yarrow, chicory, black-eyed susan, goldenrod, bluebell, columbine, prickly pear, periwinkle, myrtle, forget-me-not, trillium, celadine and 61 more...
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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (and elsewhere)
ginkgo, magnolia, rowan, bonsai, poplar, conifer, evergreen, maple, willow, sycamore, birch, oak and 8 more...
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osmos's Words
disperse, boon, sleight, feeble, nubile, cuba, mañana, taut, conifer, econophysics, bint, foliage and 1 more...
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Forest For The Trees
Words to describe forests, tree parts & tree culture.
petiole, deciduous, phytoremediation, riparian zone, scion, xeriscape, samara, freestone, clingstone, blowdown, butt log, sylvan and 49 more...
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Little Miss Different
A list of words that sound like girls' names. Inspired by a character named Anathema Device, who appears in one of my favorite books, Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.
conifer, bactine, anaesthesia, agora, careen, dilemma, helvetica, oubliette, rubella, homily, antarctica, analemma and 30 more...
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mary, mary, quite contrary
jonquil, cypress, hydrangea, phlox, clematis, japonica, willow, columbine, petunia, lianas, hosta, magnolia and 47 more...
Tweets
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