birch
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++LDOCE 5++birch /bɜːtʃ $ bɜːrtʃ/ noun 1. [countable, uncountable]HBP a tree with smooth bark (=outer covering) and thin branches, or the wood from this tree 桦树；桦木2. the birch British EnglishPUNISH the practice of hitting people with birch sticks as an official punishment 用桦条笞打，鞭笞 → silver birch
Examples from the Corpus
birch• All I remember is the wrenching loss as l watched the last birch disappear. l have relived it again and again.• Clare could see more rusty chain around the slender, peeling, silver trunk of a nearby birch tree.• An imperceptible breeze forced the leaves of a regiment of birch trees into anxious quaking.• I wish to heavens I was still allowed to use the birch and belt as I did in the good old days!• The birch leaves were delicately pale, almost lemon-colored.• These barn sills enclose thick white birch, ash, and maple trees.• I walked through hardwood forest of very thick sugar maples and yellow birches.• Dark pines and yellow birches lay ahead, as the shoreline curved to meet me.Origin birch Old English birce, beorcbirch nounChinese
covering) bark (=outer branches, tree with and Corpus thin smooth a
birch
birch /bɜːtʃ $ bɜːrtʃ/
noun
2. the birch British English the practice of hitting people with birch sticks as an official punishment
⇨ silver birch
birch /bɜːtʃ $ bɜːrtʃ/
noun Language: Old English
Origin: birce, beorc
1. [uncountable and countable] a tree with smooth bark (=outer covering) and thin branches, or the wood from this treeOrigin: birce, beorc
2. the birch British English the practice of hitting people with birch sticks as an official punishment
⇨ silver birch