English edit

Etymology edit

back- +‎ furrow

Noun edit

backfurrow (plural backfurrows)

  1. (agriculture) The line of piled soil thrown up beside a furrow when it is created by a plow
    • 1977, Archie Augustus Stone, Harold E. Gulvin, Machines for Power Farming, page 210:
      Harrow sections are usually held together by bolts and projecting eyes which permit them to follow the contours of terraces and backfurrows.

Verb edit

backfurrow (third-person singular simple present backfurrows, present participle backfurrowing, simple past and past participle backfurrowed)

  1. (agriculture) To throw or turn the soil in alternating directions for every other row that is plowed, so that every pair of furrows has a single backfurrow with clear areas on the outside.
    • 1923, Jenkin William Jones, Rice Experiments at the Biggs Rice Field Station in California, page 56:
      Before planting, an attempt was made to list the ground, the land being ridged with an ordinary walking plow by backfurrowing.