underwood
See also: Underwood
English
editEtymology
editNoun
editunderwood (countable and uncountable, plural underwoods)
- Underbrush, undergrowth.
- 1670, John Evelyn, Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber, London, Chapter 3, Of the Oak, pp. 16-17,[1]
- What improvement the stirring of the ground about the roots of Oaks is to the Trees I have already hinted; and yet in Copses where they stand warm, and so thickn’d with the under wood, as this culture cannot be practis’d, they prove in time to be goodly Trees.
- 1743, Robert Drury, The Pleasant, and Surprizing Adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his Fifteen Years Captivity on the Island of Madagascar[2], London, page 30:
- […] the Country near the Sea-side, and some few Miles further is full of short Under-wood, and thorny Shrubs, which tore our Cloaths to Rags […]
- 1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC:
- ‘Accordingly I hid myself in some thick underwood, determining to devote the ensuing hours to reflection on my situation.’
- 1825, Laws relating to landlords, tenants, and lodgers - Volume 7, page 17:
- But tenants may cut underwood, and take wood sufficient to repair the pales, hedges, and fences, and what is called by law plough-bote, fire-bote, and other house-bote.
- 1860, S. G. Finney, Hints to Landlords, Tenants, and Labourers, page 33:
- In cutting coppices the usual plan is to leave what is termed plashers where the underwoods are thin and require new wood; a far better plan is to plant young stuff, which is not only cheaper but makes much better underwoods.
- 1670, John Evelyn, Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber, London, Chapter 3, Of the Oak, pp. 16-17,[1]