[f. prec. sb.]
† 1. intr. with it: To grow into a tree, attain the size of a tree. Obs. rare–1.
1650. Fuller, Pisgah, II. x. 210. Authors have affirmed that hyssope doth tree it in Judea.
b. intr. To take a tree-like or branching form, as a deposit from a solution under the influence of an electric current.
1884. Science, 17 Oct., 392/1. It will not prevent treeing … which is one of the most serious defects of the Faure battery.
2. trans. To drive into or up a tree; to cause to take refuge in a tree, as a hunted animal, or a man pursued by a wild beast. (In quot. 1854 refl. = 3.) Also fig. to put into a difficulty or ‘fix’ (cf. up a tree, prec. 7).
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Tree the Martern, Dislodge him.
1834. [S. Smith], Lett. J. Downing, xxxii. (1835), 220. It wasn’t long afore he tree’d a rakoon.
1836. Crockett’s Exploits in Texas, i. (1845), 18. I had not been out more than a quarter of an hour before I treed a fat coon, and in the pulling of a trigger he lay dead at the root of the tree.
1854. Thoreau, Walden, xii. (1863), 250. Some small squirrel which has treed itself for security.
1859. H. Kingsley, G. Hamlyn, v. It’s no use,… you are treed, and you can’t help yourself. If I give information you swing.
b. Fox-hunting: see quot.
1781. P. Beckford, Hunting (1803), 214. In some countries … they have a method of treeing him. [Note] The intention or it is, to make the hounds more eager, and to let in the tail hounds. The fox is thrown across the branch of a tree, and the hounds are suffered to bay at him for some minutes before he is thrown amongst them.
3. intr. To climb up or perch upon a tree; esp. to take refuge in a tree from a hunter or pursuer.
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, A Martern Treeth, Lodgeth.
1834. J. Hall, Kentucky, II. 191. The raccoon was less fortunate than before, for when the tree fell, he was completely surrounded by his enemies, who took care to prevent him from again ‘treeing.’ Ibid. 194. Occasionally the young dogs committed the disgraceful mistake of ‘treeing’ a lazy fat opossum.
1866. Reader, 3 Nov., 908. In America everything seems to ‘tree’ or perch—quail, grouse, snipes, and, lastly, foxes.
1902. P. Fountain, Mts. & Forests S. Amer., v. 129. Then the hunter must tree for his life, and he will be fortunate if his foes [a herd of peccary] keep him a prisoner for twenty-four hours only.
4. trans. To plant with trees. (Mostly in pa. pple.; cf. TREED 1.)
1891. ‘Annie Thomas,’ Roll of Honor, xxiv. 194. When she comes to the appointed place, a secluded spot, well treed and shrubbed in, on the bank in the bend of the river, there is no one to meet her.
5. Technical senses. a. To furnish with an (axle-)tree. b. To stretch or shape upon a tree, as a boot or saddle: see prec. 5 e, d. c. To fit (a spade, pick, etc.) with a wooden handle. d. To provide with supporting timbers or beams, as the roof of a coal-mine.
1765. Museum Rust., IV. lix. 250. The edges of new wheels wear off much faster than the edges of old ones; and if treed a small matter wider, or narrower, the impediment is greatly encreased.
1856. Chamb. Jrnl., V. 26/2. A Wellington boot beautifully ‘treed’ and polished.
1864. G. L. M. Strauss, etc., Engl. Workshops, 94. The holes for the nails and rivets are then punched out, and the tool [a shovel] is finally treed up.
1887. P. M’Neill, Blawearie, 76. To warn the men to have their wall-faces all cleared up, and their roofs well treed.
Hence Treeing vbl. sb.
1853. Daily Delta, 30 Sept., 1/4. Our refugees are amusing themselves in fine style with … treeing possums.
1884. [see 1 b].
1885. Newhall, in Harper’s Mag., Jan., 286. Wax finishes are so generally used for men’s shoes that ‘treeing’ and ‘dressing’ with gum and blacking as the final process in finishing are important.
1902. Daily Chron., 28 July, 73. The American grouse differs essentially … from the British variety. All the different kinds frequently perch on trees; in fact … this habit of ‘treeing’ is characteristic of the breed.
