Christmas

Christmas Christ"mas, n. [Christ + mass.] An annual church festival (December 25) and in some States a legal holiday, in memory of the birth of Christ, often celebrated by a particular church service, and also by special gifts, greetings, and hospitality. [1913 Webster]

{Christmas box}. (a) A box in which presents are deposited at Christmas. (b) A present or small gratuity given to young people and servants at Christmas; a Christmas gift.

{Christmas carol}, a carol sung at, or suitable for, Christmas.

{Christmas day}. Same as {Christmas}.

{Christmas eve}, the evening before Christmas.

{Christmas fern} (Bot.), an evergreen North American fern ({Aspidium acrostichoides}), which is much used for decoration in winter.

{Christmas flower}, {Christmas rose}, the black hellebore, a poisonous plant of the buttercup family, which in Southern Europe often produces beautiful roselike flowers midwinter.

{Christmas tree}, a small evergreen tree, set up indoors, to be decorated with bonbons, presents, etc., and illuminated on Christmas eve. [1913 Webster]