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Glite Dictionary
to leave the field fallow

to leave the field fallow

7.7
To stop growing crops on a field for a time to let the soil get better
  • phrasal verb
  • Specialized
translation icon : dejar el campo en barbecho
  • By deciding to leave the field fallow, the farmer allowed the soil to regain its fertility for future crops.

Examples

  • The best rotations they found usually lasted 3 or 4 years, such as growing wheat the first year, corn the second, and then leaving the field fallow for the third.

    Academic text (2005)

  • Leaving the field fallow hurts the soil by decreasing its organic matter while increasing the likelihood of erosion.

    Academic text (2005)

  • Farmers often leave the field fallow for a season to restore its nutrients.

  • To improve crop yield, many agricultural experts recommend that farmers leave the field fallow after several years of planting.

Synonyms

to fallow
vsto leave the field fallow
5.1

To leave land unplanted for a time so the soil recovers

is the same action but usually expressed as a multiword instruction

Antonyms

to plant
361 1.0

To put seeds or young plants into the soil so they grow

to cultivate
38 4.0

To prepare land for growing crops

How Cultivated

to farm
42 1.0
to cultivate
38 4.0
to sow seed
1 2.2
to leave the field fallow
  • Specialized
7.7

Surface Forms

leave the field fallow infinitive
left the field fallow past
left the field fallow past participle
leaving the field fallow present participle
leaves the field fallow third person singular

Morphology

leave + the + field + fallow

The meaning is directly compositional: 'leave' (to cause to remain), 'field' (plot of land) and 'fallow' (to refrain from sowing) combine to mean refraining from cultivating a field so it can recover. This agricultural logic is transparent and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will understand the MWE.

Etymology

Leave the field fallow comes from farming: a farmer would leave a field fallow, meaning not planting anything so the soil can rest and recover. So, it means 'to stop using land for a time so it can recover its fertility'.