yew

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's bloodthirsty judges to hang his victims on after Monmouth's rebellion On one side of this yew was a certain structure which Redclyffe did not recognize as anything that he had before seen, but soon guessed its purpose; though, from appearances, it seemed to have been very long since it had served that purpose.

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Definitions (22)

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  1. noun Any of several poisonous evergreen trees or shrubs of the genus Taxus, having scarlet cup-shaped arils and flat needles that are dark green above and yellowish below.
  2. noun The wood of any of these trees, especially the durable, fine-grained wood of the Old World species Taxus baccata, used in cabinetmaking and for archery bows.

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Examples (50)

  • The place smelt of box and sweetbriar and yew, and when you lay down on the grass where it grew short under the old yew tree by the fountain, you could see nothing but placid sky and waving green leaves. —  One Man's Initiation—1917
  • What else could it have been but the yew--the sacred yew which our ancestors were in the habit of planting in their churchyards? —  Lavengro The Scholar, the Gypsy, the Priest
  • The sombre green of the yew was more in accord with her mood than the riot of blossom in the gardens beyond, and she was out of sight of those terrible upper windows. —  The Love Affairs of Pixie
  • This harmless yew They told me my intent was to root up That well-grown yew, and plant i' the stead of it A wither'd blackthorn; and for that they vow'd To bury me alive. —  The White Devil
  • The trunks of such trees as the oak, yew, and fir, are often found mingled with the remains of mosses and reeds, and these often assume a decidedly coaly aspect. —  The Story of a Piece of Coal What It Is, Whence It Comes, and Whither It Goes
 

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Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old English īw.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Early modern English also yewe, yeugh, ewe, eugh, ewgh, yowe; from Middle English ew, u, from Anglo-Saxon īw (in an early gloss, īuu), also eów = Dutch ijf = Old High German īwa, Middle High German īwe, German eibe = Icelandic y¯r, yew (Middle High German and Icelandic also a bow of yew); also, in another form, Anglo-Saxon eóh = Old Low German īch = Old High German īha, German dial. (Swiss) iche, ige; cf. French if, Spanish iva, Middle Latin ivus, yew (from Old High German); Old Irish ēo (modern Irish iubhar, Gaelic iubhar, iughar) = Welsh yw, ywen = Cornish hivin = Breton iven, ivinen, yew; the Celtic forms being possibly original.
  2. Origin obscure.
 

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