scorched earth

See also: scorched-earth

English

Etymology

Calque from Chinese 焦土 (jiāotǔ, “scorched earth; ravages of war”), originally in reference to the strategy adopted by the Chinese government in the Second Sino-Japanese War. First attested in 1937 as an idiom.

Noun

scorched earth (uncountable)

1. (military) Land that has been abandoned, in the face of an advancing enemy, after the destruction of all resources on it.
2. (military) The strategy of destroying all resources in an area of land in order to deny their use to an advancing enemy.

Derived terms

• scorched-earth policy

Translations

Translations

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: سِيَاسَةُ الأَرْضِ المَحْرُوقَة f (siyāsatu l-ʔarḍi l-maḥrūqa)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 焦土 (zh) (jiāotǔ)

• Danish: brændte jords taktik c
• Dutch: verschroeide aarde
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: poltettu maa
• French: terre brûlée (fr) f
• Georgian: გადამწვარი მიწა (gadamc̣vari mic̣a)
• German: verbrannte Erde f
• Hungarian: felperzselt föld
• Italian: terra bruciata f
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: spalona ziemia f
• Romanian: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: вы́жженная земля́ (ru) f (výžžennaja zemljá)
• Slovak: please add this translation if you can
• Swedish: bränd jord c, brända jordens taktik c
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can

Adjective

scorched earth (comparative more scorched earth, superlative most scorched earth)

1. Alternative spelling of scorched-earth