white spruce

noun

1

: any of several spruces

especially : a widely distributed spruce (Picea glauca) of coniferous forests of Canada and the northern U.S. that has short stiff blue-green needles and slender cones see cone illustration

2

: the wood of a white spruce

especially : the light pale tough straight-grained wood of the common white spruce (Picea glauca) used especially for construction and as a source of paper pulp

Examples of white spruce in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Wind through the famous spiral tunnel of Cathedral Mountain near Banff before taking in the glacial turquoise waters of Lake Louise, flanked by forests of pine, white spruce, and Rocky Mountain Douglas firs. —Nicole Edenedo, AFAR Media, 26 Aug. 2025

In its caterpillar form, the spruce budworm eats away at the needles of white spruce and balsam fir. —Jimmy Lovrien, Twin Cities, 23 May 2025

But since the decline of white spruce forests, deciduous trees, such as birch, aspen, and maple, have replaced them. —Jennifer Wolcott, The Christian Science Monitor, 19 Mar. 2025

Evergreens in this forest also include white pine and white spruce. —Drake Bentley, Journal Sentinel, 28 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1731, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for white spruce

• disabuse
• introduce
• reproduce
• abstruse
• abuse
• adduce
• atreus
• caboose
• cayuse
• conduce
• deduce
• diffuse