harvest

[hahr-vist]

noun

1. the gathering of crops.

   Drought has delayed the harvest of corn, peanuts, potatoes, and other vegetables.

2. the season when ripened crops are gathered.

   All through springtime, summer, and harvest, she waited for him.

3. a crop or yield of one growing season.

   Our blackberries are on track to meet or exceed last year's harvest of 30 lbs.

4. a supply of anything gathered at maturity and stored.

   The silos held an abundant harvest of wheat.

5. the taking or removal of animals to be killed for food or other uses.

   Some have called the harvest of nautilus shells for jewelry and ornaments a “horrendous slaughter.”

6. the collection of any resource for future use.

   Rules were established to limit the harvest of forest resources for fuel and building materials.

7. the extraction of an organ or tissue from a body for the purpose of transplant or scientific research.

   The new method could improve the harvest of stem cells from umbilical cord blood.

8. the result or consequence of any act, process, or event.

   The journey yielded a harvest of wonderful memories.

   Synonyms: return, product, collection, accumulation

verb (used with object)

1. to gather (a crop or the like); reap.

   It’s time to harvest the corn.

2. to gather the crop from.

   The farmer hired a few day laborers to help harvest his fields.

3. to gain, win, or use (a prize, product, or result of any past act, process, etc.).

   The country hopes to harvest dividends from staging a problem-free Olympics next year.

4. to catch, take, or remove (animals), especially for food.

   Fishermen harvested hundreds of salmon from the river.

5. to collect (any resource) for future use.

   to harvest solar energy;

   spammers who harvest email addresses.

6. to extract (an organ or tissue) from a living or dead body, as for transplantation or research.

   to harvest a kidney;

   to harvest embryos.

verb (used without object)

1. to gather a crop; reap.

   We saw whole families out in the fields, harvesting.

harvest

/ ˈhɑːvɪst /

noun

1. the gathering of a ripened crop

2. the crop itself or the yield from it in a single growing season

3. the season for gathering crops

4. the product of an effort, action, etc

   a harvest of love

verb

1. to gather or reap (a ripened crop) from (the place where it has been growing)

2. (tr) to receive or reap (benefits, consequences, etc)

3. (tr) to remove (an organ) from the body for transplantation

Other Word Forms

• harvestable adjective
• harvestability noun
• harvestless adjective
• half-harvested adjective
• postharvest adjective
• preharvest noun
• reharvest verb
• unharvested adjective
• harvesting noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of harvest¹

First recorded before 950; Middle English; Old English hærfest; cognate with German Herbst “autumn”; akin to Greek karpós “fruit,” Latin carpere “to pluck” ( carpe diem, carpel )

Word History and Origins

Origin of harvest¹

Old English hærfest; related to Old Norse harfr harrow, Old High German herbist autumn, Latin carpere to pluck, Greek karpos fruit, Sanskrit krpāna shears

Example Sentences

Historically, festivities occur after the year’s last harvest in either October or November.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Many of them, if you trace them back far enough, began as celebrations of the harvest and the table.

Read more on Salon

The plants are watered eight times a day, with specially treated water, and the blueberries are kept in refrigerators soon after they are harvested to maintain freshness.

Read more on BBC

The BBC got a sneak peek at the rice plants before harvest.

Read more on BBC

"Timber harvesting and transport will allow us to restructure Uswayford, increasing biodiversity by creating open habitats, restoring peatlands and planting of a wider mix of tree species."

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• accumulate 
• amass 
• collect 
• gather 
• hoard 
• mow 
• pick 
• pluck 
• reap 
• take in