Advertisement
defoliate
[dee-foh-lee-eyt, dee-foh-lee-it, -eyt]
verb (used with object)
to strip (a tree, bush, etc.) of leaves.
to destroy or cause widespread loss of leaves in (an area of jungle, forest, etc.), as by using chemical sprays or incendiary bombs, in order to deprive enemy troops or guerrilla forces of concealment.
verb (used without object)
to lose leaves.
adjective
(of a tree) having lost its leaves, especially by a natural process.
defoliate
verb
to deprive (a plant) of its leaves, as by the use of a herbicide, or (of a plant) to shed its leaves
adjective
(of a plant) having shed its leaves
Other Word Forms
- defoliator noun
- defoliation noun
- undefoliated adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of defoliate1
Word History and Origins
Origin of defoliate1
Example Sentences
The arrival of a pesky family of rabbits or lilacs so heavily leaf-spotted by fungal disease that they defoliated in August just don’t feel like legitimate problems against such headlines.
As Black notes, however, a great deal of “unfinished business” remains, and he gives one example: Forty-four provinces in Vietnam were defoliated, but “humanitarian aid for dioxin-related disabilities was reaching only eight of them.”
If tomato hornworms try to defoliate your plants, there’s a wasp for that, too — more than one, in fact.
The browntail moth is a scourge in America’s most forested state, where it defoliates trees and causes a rash in humans that resembles poison ivy.
The plant in his hands was a Palmer amaranth descendant that had demonstrated resistance to 2,4-D, one of two active ingredients in compounds used to defoliate forests during the Vietnam War.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Browse
