arborvitae

ar·bor·vi·tae | \ ˌär-bər-ˈvī-tē

How to pronounce arborvitae (audio)

\

Definition of arborvitae

: any of various evergreen trees and shrubs (especially genus Thuja) of the cypress family that usually have closely overlapping or compressed scale leaves and are often grown for ornament and in hedges

Examples of arborvitae in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web At least the arborvitae don't seem to mind the occasional swipe from a side mirror. — Daniel Pund, Car and Driver, "Tin Ears: Porsche is Listening," 30 May 2020 That’s because arborvitae are actually cone-shaped trees, not shrubs. — Boston.com Real Estate, "Ask the Gardener: Can you reuse container soil?," 17 Oct. 2019 Bob decided to stop at the cemetery where four generations of his family are buried, a little grouping of graves next to a white church in a stand of arborvitae trees. — The Washington Post, Twin Cities, "Farmers fight to save their land in rural Minnesota as trade war intensifies," 12 Aug. 2019 Bob decided to stop at the cemetery where four generations of his family are buried, a little grouping of graves next to a white church in a stand of arborvitae trees. — The Washington Post, Twin Cities, "Farmers fight to save their land in rural Minnesota as trade war intensifies," 12 Aug. 2019 Bob decided to stop at the cemetery where four generations of his family are buried, a little grouping of graves next to a white church in a stand of arborvitae trees. — The Washington Post, Twin Cities, "Farmers fight to save their land in rural Minnesota as trade war intensifies," 12 Aug. 2019 Bob decided to stop at the cemetery where four generations of his family are buried, a little grouping of graves next to a white church in a stand of arborvitae trees. — The Washington Post, Twin Cities, "Farmers fight to save their land in rural Minnesota as trade war intensifies," 12 Aug. 2019 Bob decided to stop at the cemetery where four generations of his family are buried, a little grouping of graves next to a white church in a stand of arborvitae trees. — The Washington Post, Twin Cities, "Farmers fight to save their land in rural Minnesota as trade war intensifies," 12 Aug. 2019 Bob decided to stop at the cemetery where four generations of his family are buried, a little grouping of graves next to a white church in a stand of arborvitae trees. — The Washington Post, Twin Cities, "Farmers fight to save their land in rural Minnesota as trade war intensifies," 12 Aug. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'arborvitae.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about arborvitae

Dictionary Entries near arborvitae

arbor porphyriana

arborvitae leaf miner

Statistics for arborvitae

Last Updated

11 Jun 2020

Cite this Entry

“Arborvitae.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/arborvitae. Accessed 11 Jul. 2020.

WORD OF THE DAY

confabulate

See Definitions and Examples »

Test Your Vocabulary

Words for Summer: A Quiz

Which of the following words means “of or relating to summer”?

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.