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Glite Dictionary
disc plow

disc plow

5.7
A farm machine with round steel discs that cuts and turns hard soil
  • noun
  • /dɪsk plaʊ/
  • UK
translation icon : arado de discos
  • Farmers use a disc plow to efficiently turn over the hard, dry soil before planting crops.
  • requirements of a disc plow
  • draft of a disc plow
  • energy requirements of disc plows

Examples

  • The disk plow has always been the basic tillage implement on the farm.

    Academic text (2013)

  • The bioslurry was mixed into the soil using a disc plow to avoid N losses from surface application.

    Academic text (2015)

  • The disk plow was hitched to a Fendt tractor model 306 LSA.

    Academic text (2013)

  • The disc plow breaks up compacted earth, making it easier for seeds to take root.

  • In preparation for spring planting, they attached the disc plow to the tractor to till the fields.

Synonyms

plow
vsdisc plow
  • US
41 1.3

A large farming tool with heavy blades that turns soil before planting

is specialized for cutting and breaking hard dry soil using concave steel discs

How Aggressive

rototiller
  • Specialized
1 6.9
disc plow
  • UK
5.7
moldboard plow
  • Specialized
8.2
to plow
  • US
44 1.5
hoe
16 1.0

Surface Forms

disc plow singular
disc plows plural

Morphology

disk + plow

The compound is directly compositional: 'disc' (a round plate) modifies 'plow' (a farming implement), so the phrase denotes a plow that uses discs. This modifier–head pattern is cross-linguistically common and readily inferable by a B1 learner who knows both constituent words (orthographic variant disk/disc does not affect comprehension).

Etymology

Disc plow comes from the parts disc (a round metal plate) and plow (a tool for turning soil). Picture large round blades cutting and turning hard, dry earth, and that image explains why it means 'a plow with round blades used to break up tough soil'.