white cedar

noun

1

: an aromatic evergreen swamp tree (Chamaecyparis thyoides) of the cypress family that occurs along the eastern coast of the U.S. and has branchlets in fan-shaped sprays and small round cones

also : its wood

2

: northern white cedar

Examples of white cedar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Eastern Connecticut Conservation District will restore 11,000 sq ft of critical Atlantic white cedar swamp and other wetland habitat in the Anguilla Brook/Inner Wequetequock Cove Watershed. —Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 17 June 2025

Species include red oak, bur oak, white cedar, yellow birch, tamarack, black spruce and white pine. —Jimmy Lovrien, Twin Cities, 23 May 2025

South Manitou has pretty sand dunes (fragile and not to be climbed), 10 miles of pebble beaches, and old-growth white cedars that are more than 500 years old. —Chloe Arrojado, AFAR Media, 21 Apr. 2025

Otherwise, don your cross-country skis, snowshoes or boots (with crampons) and enjoy cruising or ambling along the almost seven-mile Lac-Brome Path that’s lined in places with a variety of trees such as fir, larch, white cedar and sugar maple. —Jeanine Barone, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1654, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for white cedar

• interpleader
• bleeder
• breeder
• feeder
• leader
• lieder
• meader
• pleader
• reader
• reeder
• seeder
• weeder

Kids Definition

white cedar

noun

1

: either of two trees related to the cypresses:

a

: an evergreen swamp tree of the eastern coast of the U.S.

b

: a common arborvitae especially of eastern Canada and the northeastern U.S.

2

: the wood of a white cedar