slash-and-burn

American  

[slash-uhn-burn] / ˈslæʃ ənˈbɜrn /

adjective

1. of a method of agriculture used in the tropics, in which forest vegetation is felled and burned, the land is cropped for a few years, then the forest is allowed to reinvade.

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slash-and-burn British  

adjective

1. denoting a short-term method of cultivation in which land is cleared by destroying and burning trees and other vegetation for temporary agricultural use

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Etymology

Origin of slash-and-burn

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

But Musk did manage to make the real slash-and-burn artist, Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought, look like a strategic genius by comparison.

From Salon

This stems from the mistaken belief of many secular Americans that the negative influence of religion can be somehow pressured out of the public square through slash-and-burn policies.

From Salon

His slash-and-burn conservatism has found little purchase even on this conservative Supreme Court; by now, his opinions might as well come with red flags marking them as top candidates for reversal.

From Slate

Gen. Rob Bonta’s office have been working at a blistering pace to draft and file complex legal arguments opposing Trump’s policies on immigration, the economy, tariffs, LGBTQ+ rights, federal employee layoffs, government oversight, the allocation of federal funding to states and localities, the limits of the president’s executive authority and the slash-and-burn budgetary tactics of his billionaire advisor Elon Musk.

From Los Angeles Times

Musk promised his investors that he'll focus less of his time on his slash-and-burn government agency in the coming months.

From Salon