1. Any of several poisonous evergreen coniferous trees or shrubs of the genus Taxus, having scarlet cup-shaped arils and flat needles that are dark green above and yellowish below. Yews contain compounds used in medicine and are often grown as ornamentals.

2. The wood of any of these trees, especially the durable, fine-grained wood of the Eurasian and North African species Taxus baccata, used in cabinetmaking and for archery bows.