Webster's English Dictionary

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birch

1. birch or birch.en \'b*rch\ \'b*r-ch*n\ n [ME, fr. OE beorc; akin to OHG 
   birka birch, L fraxinus ash tr]ee, OE beorhyt bright - more at BRIGHT 1: 
   any of a genus (Betula of the family Betulacaea, the birch family)  of 
   monoecious deciduous usu. short-lived 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. aj
2. birch vt : to beat with or as if with a birch : WHIP