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spruce

[sproos] / sprus /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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Other houses were given a free lick of paint to spruce them up ahead of the arrival of the heads of state of 32 nations, including US President Donald Trump, the Sozcu newspaper reported.

From Barron's Jun. 25, 2026

Martin and Co. guitar, a seamless blend of spruce, mahogany, celluloid, ebony and mother-of-pearl.

From Los Angeles Times Jun. 10, 2026

Whether you’re looking to spruce up weeknight dinners or wow a crowd of guests, be sure to give these embellishments a try.

From Salon Jun. 6, 2026

They are from 7 to 8 feet long, made from carefully selected 50-to-60-year-old pine and spruce trees felled in early summer; tests of replica spears have suggested a range of about 38 yards.

From The Wall Street Journal Apr. 30, 2026

At this moment, however, the robes were still new, since the year was but well begun, and Wang Lung was proud of their spruce appearance.

From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck

"Previously, it was spruces or cedars, but today, we find endemic species better adapted to the climate," Merdan Arazmedov, a member of Turkmenistan's Nature Protection Society, told AFP.

From Barron's Dec. 18, 2025

There’s no escaping the fact the simulated emergency care being given under shade of spruces could be carried out in grim reality in the coming weeks and months.

From BBC Sep. 2, 2024

At the head of it all, where the grass grows into a forest mixed with pines, spruces, and birch, is a small bar with a "Huuva Hideaway" sign hanging above.

From Salon Aug. 28, 2022

I found that spruces and pines were the easiest to transplant and usually could make the transition from Christmas tree to landscape specimen with few problems.

From Seattle Times Dec. 11, 2021

The elms and chestnuts are long gone, the stately hemlocks and flowery dogwoods are going, and the red spruces, Fraser firs, mountain ashes, and sugar maples may be about to follow.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

Mr. Kabelac, who seemed the sprucer, less bashful of the two, spoke right up: "I'd be glad to marry her if Mrs. Stull says it's all right."

From Time Magazine Archive

Or he would be denounced as a "sprucer" if he managed to arrive late for his meal and yet, by a trick, to secure a front place in the waiting queue at the canteen.

From Observations of an Orderly Some Glimpses of Life and Work in an English War Hospital by Muir, Ward

His neck, but a moment before collarless, was now surrounded by a high white-washed wall; he flashed a crimson tie, and somehow his clothes looked newer and sprucer.

From The Statesmen Snowbound by Fitzgerald, Robert

Oh, if my hands adhere to cash, My gloves at least are clean, And rarely have the gentry flash In sprucer clothes been seen.

From Paul Clifford — Complete by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron

Looks sprucer and snappier than I'd ever seen him before, too.

From Wilt Thou Torchy by Ford, Sewell

Thenceforth, while Britain's Glubb Pasha built the British-equipped Arab Legion into Islam's sprucest fighting force, Abdullah ruled the sandy wastes as a Bedouin black-tent state.

From Time Magazine Archive

Along thy sprucest bookshelves shine The works thou deemest most divine— The 'Art of Cookery,' and mine, My Murray.

From Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 4 With His Letters and Journals by Moore, Thomas

But Mr. Hugh Wenlock was on deck in the sprucest of his apparel, and was visibly anxious and fidgety, as befitted a man who shortly expected to enter into the bonds of matrimony.

From A Master of Fortune Being Further Adventures of Captain Kettle by Wood, Stanley L.

Would any one wish to see these remains tricked out in the sprucest, or even the richest, modern habiliments?

From The Book-Collector A General Survey of the Pursuit and of those who have engaged in it at Home and Abroad from the Earliest Period to the Present Time by Hazlitt, William Carew

Some buildings were spruced up as part of a tourism drive launched in the 1990s, which peaked in the years following the landmark 2016 visit by former US President Barack Obama.

From Barron's Jun. 17, 2026

As a sample they point to Penn’s Grand Concourse, which the MTA has spruced up in recent years with its own resources.

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 13, 2026

One of the most crucial sequences involves the makeover that Glinda tries to give Elphaba as she sings “Popular” in their Shiz University dorm room, which she has spruced up with pink accouterments.

From New York Times Nov. 26, 2024

The hall is spruced up with new seats and looks lovely.

From Los Angeles Times Oct. 19, 2024

He grabbed Handsome’s present, which he also spruced up by tying a bright yellow ribbon around it, and left his cave.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

I like sprucing up my ramen with fresh bok choy, baby corn, spinach and pickled red onions.

From Salon Jul. 19, 2026

While Malik welcomes the top court's observations and directions, she says that along with sprucing up laws, there's an urgent need to ensure their proper implementation.

From BBC Feb. 10, 2026

Walmart is sprucing up its home goods to attract more high-income shoppers and better compete with the e-commerce titan.

From The Wall Street Journal Feb. 2, 2026

Minister Chung said North Koreans have been spotted "sprucing up" areas near the JSA for the first time this year -- cleaning, pulling weeds, tidying flower beds and taking photos.

From Barron's Oct. 25, 2025

“It could use some sprucing up,” Håkon agreed.

From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack




Vocabulary lists containing spruce


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