old growth
- noun
- /oʊld ɡroʊθ/
- Specialized
- Walking through the majestic old growth trees, you can feel the untouched beauty of nature around you.
- old growth forests
- old growth reserves
- old growth timber
But then when we saw that we almost cut down all of our our old growth, we said, something's wrong here.
- But then when we saw that we almost cut down all of our our old growth, we said, something's wrong here.
Examples
-
98% of the old-growth forests are gone.
-
Both regions include some of the most extensive old-growth rainforests in the world.
Academic text (1996) -
You can see old growth because old growth will have bark.
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This is the really thick old growth and that comes out here to to last year's growth and then this year's growth.
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Whom does it serve that we're now opening the rest of the old growth forests to logging?
Academic text (1994) -
Its existence seems assured as long as the old-growth forest upon which it depends continues to exist.
Academic text (1992) -
The room had been built around three old-growth white pines that soared up to the skylight roof.
Fiction book (2001) -
Far above, a solitary car wound through an old-growth forest, its headlights stabbing the darkness.
Fiction book (2000) -
The national park is home to many rare species that thrive in the old growth forest untouched by human activity.
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Scientists are studying the diverse ecosystem found in the old growth forest to understand its benefits to the environment.
Synonyms
A forest with many old trees that is not changed by people
How Mature
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'old' and 'growth' combine to suggest vegetation that has been growing for a long time, so a B1 learner who knows both words will likely grasp the general idea of long-established plant growth. However, the technical ecological sense (a mature, largely undisturbed ecosystem as in 'old-growth forest') is specialized and not fully predictable from the constituents, so full comprehension typically requires prior exposure.
Etymology
The phrase old growth comes from the image of a forest where the trees are old and show years of growth. So, it means 'a very old forest that people have not changed'.