yew

noun \ˈyü\

: an evergreen tree or bush with stiff needles and small red berries

: the wood of a yew

Full Definition of YEW

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

archaic : an archery bow made of yew

See yew defined for English-language learners

See yew defined for kids

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 Defined for Kids

yew

noun \ˈyü\

Definition of YEW for Kids

: a tree or shrub with stiff needlelike evergreen leaves and seeds having a red juicy covering

Medical Dictionary

yew

noun \ˈyü\

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