birch
1 of 2noun
ˈbərch 
1
: any of a genus (Betula of the family Betulaceae, the birch family) of monoecious deciduous trees or shrubs having simple petioled leaves and typically a layered membranous outer bark that peels readily
2
: the hard pale close-grained wood of a birch
3
: a birch rod or bundle of twigs for flogging
birch adjective
or birchen
ˈbər-chən
birch
2 of 2verb
birched; birching; birches
transitive verb
: to beat with or as if with a birch : whip
Synonyms
Verb
- cowhide
- flagellate
- flail
- flog
- hide
- horsewhip
- lash
- leather
- rawhide
- scourge
- slash
- switch
- tan
- thrash
- whale
- whip
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Noun a cabinet made of birch In those days, schoolchildren got the birch when they misbehaved. Verb students at the private school were once routinely birched for violating the rules always a stern disciplinarian, our father birched anyone who talked back
Recent Examples on the Web
Morgan Krakow, Anchorage Daily News, 31 Aug. 2022 Handmade in France, this Byredo candle dons top notes of delicate rose petals with rich hearty notes of leather, violet and rose absolute for intensity, along with a base of birch tree and ebony woods. Felicity Carter, Forbes, 3 July 2022 Bright-green birch tree leaves glistened in the sun. Yaroslav Trofimov, WSJ, 24 May 2022 The surface of a professional-grade cornhole board — two feet wide and four feet long, give or take a quarter-inch, and made of birch or oak with a polyurethane finish — can change texture with the temperature. Ashley Fetters Maloy, Washington Post, 11 Aug. 2022 Ensure that every visitor that comes by their new home is greeted with a friendly hello by gifting them this welcome sign that's crafted of baltic birch. Monique Valeris, Good Housekeeping, 2 Aug. 2022 At the entrance to Moshchenka, anti-tank obstacles fashioned from local birch trees and barbed wire guard the checkpoint. New York Times, 14 June 2022 It’s a woody, aromatic fragrance that strategically blends aromas of lavender, leather, and smoke, refreshed by a drop of grapefruit and grounded by the charismatic scent of silver birch. Grooming Playbook, The Salt Lake Tribune, 11 May 2022 Emerging back into the light, Skidmore stared out over the hills, where pockets of birch marked where mining operations disturbed the permafrost a century ago, creating pools and altering the forest. Lois Parshley, Anchorage Daily News, 3 May 2022 Kerri Westenberg, Star Tribune, 11 Sep. 2020 See More
Noun
Science Brown birch trees in both Southcentral and Interior Alaska this summer aren’t signaling an early fall. Morgan Krakow, Anchorage Daily News, 31 Aug. 2022 Handmade in France, this Byredo candle dons top notes of delicate rose petals with rich hearty notes of leather, violet and rose absolute for intensity, along with a base of birch tree and ebony woods. Felicity Carter, Forbes, 3 July 2022 Bright-green birch tree leaves glistened in the sun. Yaroslav Trofimov, WSJ, 24 May 2022 The surface of a professional-grade cornhole board — two feet wide and four feet long, give or take a quarter-inch, and made of birch or oak with a polyurethane finish — can change texture with the temperature. Ashley Fetters Maloy, Washington Post, 11 Aug. 2022 Ensure that every visitor that comes by their new home is greeted with a friendly hello by gifting them this welcome sign that's crafted of baltic birch. Monique Valeris, Good Housekeeping, 2 Aug. 2022 At the entrance to Moshchenka, anti-tank obstacles fashioned from local birch trees and barbed wire guard the checkpoint. New York Times, 14 June 2022 It’s a woody, aromatic fragrance that strategically blends aromas of lavender, leather, and smoke, refreshed by a drop of grapefruit and grounded by the charismatic scent of silver birch. Grooming Playbook, The Salt Lake Tribune, 11 May 2022 Emerging back into the light, Skidmore stared out over the hills, where pockets of birch marked where mining operations disturbed the permafrost a century ago, creating pools and altering the forest. Lois Parshley, Anchorage Daily News, 3 May 2022 Verb
Find yellow aspen and birch along the shoreline and red maples inland. Kerri Westenberg, Star Tribune, 11 Sep. 2020 See More Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English, from Old English beorc; akin to Old High German birka birch, Old English beorht bright, and probably to Latin fraxinus ash tree — more at bright
First Known Use
Noun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
1808, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing birch
Kids Definition
birch
noun
ˈbərch
: a tree with hard wood and a smooth bark that can be peeled off in thin layers
birching
verb
1
as in whipping
to strike repeatedly with something long and thin or flexible students at the private school were once routinely birched for violating the rules Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- whipping
- spanking
- hiding
- flogging
- lashing
- slashing
- horsewhipping
- scourging
- thrashing
- flagellating
- flicking
- tanning
- slapping
- leathering
- caning
- switching
- whaling
- cutting
- licking
- flailing
- knocking
- hitting
- smacking
- banging
- punching
- mauling
- whacking
- strapping
- pounding
- cowhiding
- batting
- rawhiding
- clipping
- beating
- clapping
- thumping
- swiping
- cudgeling
- swatting
- boxing
- paddling
- thwacking
- cudgelling
- cracking
- clubbing
- pelting
- battering
- clouting
- cuffing
- knouting
- socking
- quirting
- roughing
- whupping
- smiting
- lamming
- bashing
- hammering
- touching up
- pummeling
- slugging
- walloping
- mangling
- drubbing
- bludgeoning
- threshing
- lathering
- belting
- clobbering
- blackjacking
- bopping
- slating
- pasting
- working over
- pistol-whipping
- buffeting
- basting
- fustigating
- busting
- bunging
- lacing
- fibbing
- pummelling
- whapping
- slogging
- lambasting
- whopping
- pommelling
- belaboring
- pommeling
- tromping
2
as in licking
to strike repeatedly always a stern disciplinarian, our father birched anyone who talked back Synonyms & Similar Words
- licking
- lashing
- spanking
- whipping
- pounding
- hiding
- battering
- beating
- pelting
- slapping
- doing
- flogging
- knocking
- thumping
- punching
- hitting
- paddling
- smashing
- mauling
- attacking
- assaulting
- batting
- thrashing
- slamming
- chopping
- tanning
- smacking
- raiding
- pummeling
- hammering
- bashing
- whaling
- whacking
- clubbing
- drubbing
- bludgeoning
- lathering
- caning
- threshing
- currying
- belting
- whupping
- walloping
- slating
- boxing
- working over
- buffeting
- switching
- punching out
- basting
- pummelling
- fibbing
- storming
- lacing
- whapping
- lambasting
- slogging
- whopping
- pommelling
- cracking
- pommeling
- wounding
- belaboring
- tromping
- beating up on
- swiping
- scourging
- cuffing
- bunging up
- strapping
- swatting
- socking
- cudgelling
- lamming
- thwacking
- flagellating
- cudgeling
- horsewhipping
- leathering
- roughing (up)
- clouting
- pasting
- rushing
- clobbering
- whomping
- messing (up)
- whamming
- besetting
- assailing
- lacerating
- laying on
- busting
- maiming
- mutilating
- goring
- pistol-whipping
- cowhiding
- blackjacking
- mangling
- descending (on or upon)
- rawhiding
- fustigating
- pouncing (on or upon)
- jumping (on)
- potato mosaic
- potato moth
- potato mottle
- potato onion
- potato pancake
- potato psyllid
- potato race
- potato ring
- potato root eelworm
- potato root nematode
- potato rot nematode
- potato scab
- potato set
- potato slump
- potato stalk borer
- potato starch
- potato tree
- potato tu
- potato tuber moth
- potato tuberworm
- potato vine
- potato virus x
- potato wart
- potato weevil
- potato whiskey