An N-ary tree is a type of data structure that consists of nodes, where each node can have up to N children. Unlike a binary tree, which limits each node to two children, an N-ary tree allows for more flexibility in organizing data. This structure is useful for representing hierarchical relationships, such as file systems or organizational charts. In an N-ary tree, the top node is called the root, and nodes without children are referred to as leaves. Each node can store data and maintain references to its children, making it easy to traverse and manipulate the tree. N-ary trees are commonly used in computer science for various applications, including parsing expressions and managing multi-level menus.