yew Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun wood of a yew; especially the durable fine-grained light brown or red wood of the English yew valued for cabinetwork and archery bows
  2. noun any of numerous evergreen trees or shrubs having red cup-shaped berries and flattened needlelike leaves

WordNet

Yew intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. See Yaw.
Yew noun
Etymology
OE. ew, AS. eów, iw, eoh; akin to D. ijf, OHG. iwa, iha, G. eibe, Icel. r; cf. Ir. iubhar, Gael. iubhar, iughar, W. yw, ywen, Lith. jëva the black alder tree.
Definitions
  1. (Bot.) An evergreen tree (Taxus baccata) of Europe, allied to the pines, but having a peculiar berrylike fruit instead of a cone. It frequently grows in British churchyards.
  2. The wood of the yew. It is light red in color, compact, fine-grained, and very elastic. It is preferred to all other kinds of wood for bows and whipstocks, the best for these purposes coming from Spain. ✍ The American yew (Taxus baccata, var. Canadensis) is a low and straggling or prostrate bush, never forming an erect trunk. The California yew (Taxus brevifolia) is a good-sized tree, and its wood is used for bows, spear handles, paddles, and other similar implements. Another yew is found in Florida, and there are species in Japan and the Himalayas.
  3. A bow for shooting, made of the yew.
Yew adjective
Definitions
  1. Of or pertaining to yew trees; made of the wood of a yew tree; as, a yew whipstock.

Webster 1913