Christmas tree

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Meaning · English

Something which resembles a Christmas tree (sense 1) in appearance (for example, in having coloured lights) or shape. — A panel of indicator lights in an aircraft or a submarine.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Điều gì đó giống cây thông Noel về hình dạng hoặc ngoại hình

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Register: slang

Where it’s used: Used American English

Examples

Farnsworth and Reed […] have reported on comparative reaction times to "Christmas tree" signal lights with respect to color deficiency. One of the most important color discriminations involved in the operation of a submarine is that of reading the "Christmas tree," a panel of 30 to 60 small jewel-sh

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).

Common questions

What does “Christmas tree” mean?

Something which resembles a Christmas tree (sense 1) in appearance (for example, in having coloured lights) or shape. — A panel of indicator lights in an aircraft or a submarine.

Is “Christmas tree” formal or informal?

Christmas tree is generally slang.