yew

yew

noun \ˈyü\

Definition of YEW

1

a : any of a genus (Taxus of the family Taxaceae, the yew family) of evergreen gymnospermous trees and shrubs with stiff linear leaves and seeds surrounded by a fleshy red aril: as (1) : a long-lived Eurasian tree or shrub (T. baccata) —called also English yew (2) : a low straggling bush (T. canadensis) of the eastern United States and Canada (3) : pacific yew

b : the wood of a yew; especially : the heavy fine-grained wood of the English yew

2

archaic : an archery bow made of yew

Examples of YEW

1. a bow made of yew

Illustration of YEW

Origin of YEW

Middle English ew, from Old English īw; akin to Old High German īwa yew, Middle Irish eó

First Known Use: before 12th century

Other Seed Plant Terms

aubergine, box, bramble, briar, composite, perpetual, pulse, trefoil

Rhymes with YEW

blue, boo, brew, chew, clew, clue, coo, coup, crew, cue, dew, do, doux, due, ewe, few, flu, flue, fou, glue, gnu, goo, hew, hue, Jew, Koo, lieu, loo, mew, moo, moue, mu, new, nu, ooh, pew, phew, pooh, q, queue, roux, rue, screw, shoe, shoo, shrew, Sioux, skew, slew, slough, slue, smew, sou, sous, spew, sprue, stew, strew, sue, Sue, thew, through, to, too, true, two, u, view, whew, who, woo, xu, you, zoo

yew

noun \ˈyü\   (Medical Dictionary)

Medical Definition of YEW

: any of a genus (Taxus of the family Taxaceae, the yew family) of evergreen trees and shrubs with stiff linear leaves and seeds surrounded by a fleshy red aril; especially : one (T. brevifolia) of the Pacific coast of the United States and Canada whose bark yields the antineoplastic drug paclitaxel

yew

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Any of about eight species of ornamental evergreens in the genus Taxus, family Taxaceae (the yew family), distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Two species are always shrubby, but the others may reach heights of 77 ft (25 m). The plants have many branches, covered with needlelike leaves. Yew wood is hard, fine-grained, and heavy, with white or creamy sapwood and amber to brown heartwood. Once popular for cabinetwork, implements, and archery bows, it is used more today for articles either carved or turned on a lathe. Other trees called yew but not in this family are the plum-yew (family Cephalotaxaceae) and Prince Albert yew (family Podocarpaceae).