denude

American  

[dih-nood, -nyood] / dɪˈnud, -ˈnjud /

verb (used with object)

• denudes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• denuded,
  past participle,  past
• denuding
  present participle

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  

/ dɪˈnjuːd, ˌdiː- /

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

Derived Forms

• denudation
  noun
• denuder
  noun
• denuded
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• denuding
  present
• denuded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• denude
  simple
• denudes
  simple
• have denuded
  perfect
• has denuded
  perfect
• am denuding
  progressive
• are denuding
  progressive
• is denuding
  progressive
• have been denuding
  perfect progressive
• has been denuding
  perfect progressive

Past

• denuded
  simple
• had denuded
  perfect
• was denuding
  progressive
• were denuding
  progressive
• had been denuding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will denude
  simple
• will have denuded
  perfect
• will be denuding
  progressive
• will have been denuding
  perfect progressive

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

See Examples For:

denude denudes denuded denuding

“I don’t want to denude New York of its extensive cultural treasures,” he said.

From New York Times ● Dec. 13, 2022

They’re also here to eat huge swaths of cropland, denude trees and other plant life, and generally wreak havoc on the West and its agriculture.

From Slate ● Jul. 12, 2021

They have a voracious appetite that can denude entire forests of leaves, said University of Illinois entomologist May Berenbaum, a past society president.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 9, 2021

They're also being told not to denude grocery shelves by hoarding food and other essentials.

From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2020

Biscuit was a little awkward, but he managed to denude a large potato of its foliage and handed it to Sube for approval.

From Sube Cane by Edward Bellamy Partridge

An ideological move away from globalization by some countries and the encouragement of reshoring that denudes comparative advantage benefits may also lift prices.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 22, 2025

“This denial denudes them of their right to worship,” Chief Justice Dipak Misra, who has since retired, wrote in his opinion.

From New York Times ● Oct. 18, 2018

So too does pianist Kristof Van Grysperre, whose crisp, unsentimental playing startlingly denudes Poulenc's orchestral score.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2016

The overqualified actors often give quirky life to a script that denudes their characters of nuance.

From Time ● Oct. 7, 2014

Great trees fall, new trees grow up, brush clothes an erstwhile bare hillside, fire denudes a slope, even the rocks and boulders shift their places under the coercion of frost or avalanche.

From The Rules of the Game by Stewart Edward White

From Virginia to north Florida and west to Texas, tens of millions of denuded acres were planted with rows of pine, restoring the region’s canopy and creating a new asset class.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

At Galeries Lafayette on Tuesday, as employees packed away denuded mannequins, admissions officer Li said she thought the store had been too reliant on "the traditional... business model that has existed for decades in France".

From Barron's ● May 27, 2026

Food, initially plentiful after the Germans denuded the farms of occupied Europe, became scarcer and worse.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026

Moments later, it emerged as a landscape denuded of all color save brown and gray and the occasional red-rimmed maw of a destroyed brick rooftop.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2025

His father’s plate is polished clean, the chicken bones denuded of cartilage and chewed to a pinkish pulp, the bay leaf and cinnamon stick as good as new.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri

She is among those who think that this all nods to an "odd relationship" with trees – one of "simultaneously adoring and denuding woodlands".

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2025

The fine for allegedly denuding a row of street trees that shaded striking Hollywood writers is small — $250 — but notable enough for the Los Angeles chief auditor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2023

The Barrington revival embraces that denuding and deracination, which is nice for the eyes if not for the drama.

From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2023

During the panel at Columbia Law, Roderick Ferguson, Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and American Studies at Yale University warned against the "denuding of African American studies of the things that degrade."

From Salon ● Mar. 31, 2023

“Nice job denuding your face, by the way,” she said, waggling her fingers under her chin to indicate his shave.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor