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Glite Dictionary
to disforest

to disforest

9.9
To cut down all trees in an area to use the land
  • verb
  • /dɪsˈfɔrɪst/
translation icon : deforestar
  • Many species lost their habitats when the hills were disforested for agriculture.

Examples

  • The government decided to disforest the area to make way for new roads.

  • The company disforested several acres last year.

  • It took decades to recover the land after it was disforested by loggers.

  • They plan to disforest the entire region for agriculture.

  • The government decided to disforest the protected land in order to expand urban development.

  • Many wildlife species disappeared when the forest was disforested to create new farmland.

  • The logging company plans to disforest more areas to increase its lumber production.

Synonyms

to deforest
vsto disforest
3 6.0

To cut down most trees in an area so very few remain

is total removal of every tree rather than partial clearing
to clear-cut
vsto disforest
  • Specialized
2 6.1

To cut down all the trees in an area at once

is removal that may occur over time, not necessarily in one action
to disafforest
vsto disforest
  • Archaic
9.9

To remove trees or change the official status of land so it is no longer a forest

focuses on cutting every tree, not changing legal designation

Antonyms

to reforest
1 4.4

To plant trees on land where a forest was cut down or destroyed

to afforest
  • Specialized
8.6

To plant trees on land that is not a forest to make a new forest

How Cleared

to disforest
9.9
to clear
∞ 1.5
to thin out
  • Informal
5 3.5

Surface Forms

disforest infinitive
disforested past
disforested past participle
disforesting present participle
disforests third person singular

Morphology

disforest = forest (semi-transparent) = dis + forest

The connection to 'forest' is clear, but using 'dis-' to mean removing or depriving an area of forest is somewhat less standard and may not be fully obvious to learners.

Etymology

Disforest is made from the part dis- meaning 'remove' and forest meaning 'area of trees', so it literally means to 'take the trees away' from a place.