denude

American  

[dih-nood, -nyood] / dɪˈnud, -ˈnyud /

verb (used with object)

denuded, denuding

1. to make naked or bare; strip.

   The storm completely denuded the trees.

2. Geology. to subject to denudation.

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denude British  

/ ˌdiː-, dɪˈnjuːd, ˌdɛnjʊˈdeɪʃən /

verb

1. to divest of covering; make bare; uncover; strip

2. to expose (rock) by the erosion of the layers above

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Other Word Forms

• denudation
  noun
• denuded
  adjective
• denuder
  noun

Etymology

Origin of denude

First recorded in 1505–15; from Latin dēnūdāre, equivalent to dē- de- + nūdāre “to lay bare”; see nude

Explanation

When you denude something, you expose it by taking away what covers or protects it. Loggers who clearcut forests denude them of all trees. There are both natural and human-related ways to denude a piece of land or an area of the earth's surface. The erosion of sea water on the coast can denude beaches and coastlines, eroding and wearing them away. Pesticides used on large farms can denude entire regions of honey bees. The word comes from a Latin root, denudare, "to lay bare, strip, or expose," from de-, "away," and nudare, "to strip."

Example Sentences

Denude, de-nūd′, v.t. to make nude or naked: to lay bare.—n.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various

What matter if their modes of capture Denude the land of every bird?

From Poems by Stoddard, John L. (John Lawson)

Denude: to free from covering; to rub so as to remove the surface covering of scales, hair or other vestiture.

From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by Smith, John. B.