: any of a genus (Pinus of the family Pinaceae, the pine family) of coniferous evergreen trees that have slender elongated needles and include some valuable timber trees and ornamentals
2
: the straight-grained white or yellow usually durable and resinous wood of a pine varying from extreme softness in the white pine to hardness in the longleaf pine
3
: any of various Australian coniferous trees (as of the genera Callitris or Araucaria)
long implies a wishing with one's whole heart and often a striving to attain.
longed for some rest
yearn suggests an eager, restless, or painful longing.
yearned for a stage career
hanker suggests the uneasy promptings of unsatisfied appetite or desire.
always hankering for money
pine implies a languishing or a fruitless longing for what is impossible.
pined for a lost love
hunger and thirst imply an insistent or impatient craving or a compelling need.
hungered for a business of his own
thirsted for power
Examples of pine in a Sentence
Verbpining for a house in the mountains
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Edwardβs younger brother Robert (Lukas Gage) spends his days doing little but pining most inappropriately for the attentions of eldest sibling Jack (Jamie Bell), while the stunted, oversexed energy of lone sister Anna (Riley Keough) spits in all directions.βπ Image Guy Lodge, Variety, 14 Feb. 2026 But as the title character and a partial avatar for Williamson β who had similarly spent his own teen years dreamily pining and aspiring to be a filmmaker β Dawson was the boy-next-door pillar around which the show orbited.βπ Image Los Angeles Times, 12 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for pine
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English, from Old English pΔ«n, from Latin pinus; probably akin to Greek pitys pine
Verb
Middle English, from Old English pΔ«nian to suffer, from *pΔ«n punishment, from Latin poena β more at pain entry 1
First Known Use
Noun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
: to lose energy, health, or weight through grief, worry, or distress
pine away
2
: to long for very much
pine
2 of 2noun
1
: any of a genus of evergreen trees that have narrow needles for leaves, cones, and wood ranging from very soft to hard and that include valuable timber trees as well as many ornamentals
