white cedar

1. 1.

   small evergreen of eastern North America having tiny scalelike leaves on flattened branchlets

   SynonymsAmerican arborvitaenorthern white cedarThuja occidentalis

   Broaderarborvitae

   Part ofThuja
2. 2.

   slow-growing medium-sized cedar of east coast of the United States; resembles American arborvitae

   Synonymssouthern white cedarcoast white cedarAtlantic white cedarwhite cypressChamaecyparis thyoides

   Broadercedar

   Part ofChamaecyparis

Questions about white cedar

What does white cedar mean?

white cedar means "small evergreen of eastern North America having tiny scalelike leaves on flattened branchlets". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

What is another word for white cedar?

Close synonyms include American arborvitae, northern white cedar, Thuja occidentalis, southern white cedar, coast white cedar. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is white cedar a common word?

white cedar is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.