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Glite Dictionary
untilled

untilled

1 6.6
Land not plowed or used for growing crops
  • adjective
  • /ʌnˈtɪld/
translation icon : sin cultivar
  • The wildlife thrived in the untilled areas where no crops had been planted for many years.

Examples

  • The cailles and gardens seemed to press close to one another, and in places quite untilled earth was being farmed.

    Academic text (1990)

  • Mark drove us back to untilled acres of the farm, where the brothers had once grown their marijuana.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Crows flew, cawing high above the untilled fields.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Gordo had fashioned for them on some untilled land that belonged to Mayor Argente's family.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Tumbleweeds now filled the untilled cotton fields; the pecan trees bloomed and dropped their husky nuts and spread their summer canopy without interference.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Prairie dogs build new colonies on untilled and unirrigated fields, dig up corn seed, and eat vegetable transplants and alfalfa on adjacent farms.

    Academic text (2018)

  • The crows flew over the vast, untilled fields, searching for food among the weeds.

  • After years of neglect, the farmer finally decided to plant crops on the untilled land.

Synonyms

fallow
vsuntilled
3 5.7

Left unplanted for a season so the soil can recover

is unused without the deliberate rest for restoring soil health
unplowed
vsuntilled
  • US
1 6.2

Land that is not turned over to make the soil ready for planting

is unworked and also not prepared for growing crops
uncultivated
vsuntilled
1 5.1

Land that is not prepared for growing crops

refers more to absence of any crop use than to soil work
unplanted
vsuntilled
1 3.3

Land with no seeds or plants growing on it

describes absence of plants, not the prior soil working or preparation
uncropped
vsuntilled
6.3

Land that people do not use for growing crops

highlights lack of crops rather than lack of soil preparation
unsown
vsuntilled
7.4

Land not planted with seeds

focuses on absence of seeds, not on whether soil was worked
unseeded
vsuntilled
6.1

Land that has not been planted with crops

means no seeds were added, not necessarily lacking soil preparation

Antonyms

tilled
3.2

Land prepared for planting by working the soil

cultivated
3.5

Land prepared by people for growing crops

How Cultivated

tilled
3.2
to fallow
5.1
untilled
1 6.6

Surface Forms

untilled positive

Morphology

untilled = tilled (transparent) = un + till + ed

Formed by adding the negative prefix 'un-' to 'tilled' (tilled = cultivated), producing the straightforward meaning 'not tilled'.

Etymology

The word untilled comes from un- 'not' and till 'to prepare the soil', so it means land that was not plowed or made ready for crops. That's why an untilled field often has wild flowers and weeds.