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Glite Dictionary
🌱 To loosen soil 🩸 To cut skin 🌰 To scratch seeds
to scarify

to scarify

8.7
To break the surface of the soil so air and water can reach plant roots
  • verb
  • /ˈskɛrəˌfaɪ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : aerear
  • Before planting new grass, it is important to scarify the existing soil to improve its drainage.

Examples

  • In preparation for the garden, she decided to scarify the soil to make it more suitable for planting.

  • King County developed a draft rule that requires attention to soil quality (ten percent organic content by weight) and depth (eight inches and scarify two inches of subsoil) as a component of all clearing and grading and in its Surface Water Design Manual update.

    Academic text (2001)

  • Each spring, he takes the time to scarify his lawn, ensuring the grass has the best chance to thrive.

Synonyms

to harrow
vsto scarify
  • Specialized
7.5

To break up and smooth soil using a farm tool with spikes

breaks surface to improve planting and aeration rather than focus on smoothing

Antonyms

to compact
11 4.4

To press something so it becomes smaller and takes less space

How Thorough

to plow
  • US
44 1.5
to till
11 5.3
to scarify
  • Specialized
8.7
to rake
28 1.0

Surface Forms

scarify infinitive
scarified past
scarified past participle
scarifying present participle
scarifies third person singular

Morphology

scarify = scar (transparent) = scar + ify

Formed from the noun 'scar' plus the productive verb-forming suffix '-ify' meaning 'to make or cause to be', so the sense 'to make cuts/scars' is directly inferable.

Etymology

Scarify comes from the idea of a scar — a 'cut' or mark — and it was used to mean making small cuts in the soil so air and water can reach the roots. So, to scarify soil is to break up its surface to help plants grow.