Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for understory. Search instead for underhistory.
Synonyms

understory

American  
[uhn-der-stawr-ee, -stohr-ee] / ˈʌn dərˌstɔr i, -ˌstoʊr i /

noun

  1. the shrubs and plants growing beneath the main canopy of a forest.

Etymology

Origin of understory

First recorded in 1900–05; under- + story 2

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.

By keeping fire out of the state’s wildlands altogether, California has grown thick with branches, brush and understory that are now acting as fuel for the state’s ever-larger blazes.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 10, 2025

Insect-eating understory birds are among the hardest hit.

From Science Daily • Mar. 14, 2024

You can use these in mixed plantings under your conifers or group a bunch together to form a hedge or thick understory.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 9, 2023

Coffee is an understory plant: It grows best under a canopy of shade-providing trees.

From Salon • Oct. 23, 2023

Sitting back, she watched the leaves flicker out in the understory.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.