Definition of "aspen"

aspen¹

/ˈæspən/

adjective
comparative more aspen, superlative most aspen
1. Pertaining to the asp or aspen tree.
2. (obsolete) Tremulous, trembling.
  Quotations
  And then poore Aspen wretch, neglected thou / Bath'd in a cold quicksilver sweat wilt lye / A veryer ghost than I […].
  a. 1631 (date written), J[ohn] Donne, “The Apparition”, in Poems, […] with Elegies on the Authors Death, London: […] M[iles] F[lesher] for Iohn Marriot, […], published 1633
3. (obsolete) Of a woman's tongue: wagging, gossiping.

aspen²

/ˈæspən/

noun
plural aspens
1. The asp tree; a kind of poplar tree (genus Populus sect. Populus). A medium-size tree with thin, straight trunks of a greenish-white color.
  Quotations
  ſtaggering like a quiuering Aſpen leafe,Fearing the force of Boreas boiſtrous blaſts.
  c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, Act II, scene iv
  Instead there were the white of aspens, streaks of branch and slender trunk glistening from the green of leaves […] .
  1912 January, Zane Grey, chapter 8, in Riders of the Purple Sage […], New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers Publishers
2. (uncountable) The wood of such a tree; usually pale, lightweight and soft.

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