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Synonyms

plow under

Idioms  
  1. Cause to vanish, overwhelm, as in The independent bookstores are being plowed under by the large chains. This term alludes to the farmer's burying vegetation by turning it into the soil with a plow. [Second half of 1900s]


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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With the onset of the coronavirus, many farmers were forced to plow under crops or dump their milk, even as grocery store shelves emptied out and many American families went hungry.

From New York Times Mar. 25, 2021

Large scale corporate operations will deny access to hunters and for certain plow under the grassed waterways and seasonally inundated wetland in favor of maximizing production.

From New York Times Jun. 12, 2016

It is cooking with imperfect vegetables that farmers might otherwise plow under.

From New York Times Jul. 7, 2015

Meantime, U. S. farmers plow under their crops, kill livestock to prevent a surplus.

From Time Magazine Archive

Would pine sawdust from the lumber mills be a good substance to mix in and plow under in a three-acre adobe patch in order to loosen and lighten the soil for truck gardening?

From One Thousand Questions in California Agriculture Answered by Edward J. (Edward James) Wickson

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