tropical rain forest
3
2.7
- noun
- /ˈtrɒpɪkəl reɪn ˈfɔːrɪst/
:
selva tropical
- Deforestation by burning, a widespread practice in the world's tropical rain forests, adversely impacts the trace-gas composition of the atmosphere in two different ways.
- destruction of tropical rain forests
- world's tropical rain forests
Examples
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The statistics on the loss of the world's tropical rain forests are staggering.
Academic text (1992) -
People who haven't been in the tropical rain forest often ask me what it feels like to work there.
Academic text (1990) -
Welcome to the tropical rain forest.
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If anything divine remains on earth, I thought, it would be the tropical rain forest.
Academic text (1990) -
You see, Maya, Kalampore is home to the world's second largest tropical rain forest.
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Fifteen years ago, roads captured global attention as a catalyst in the destruction of tropical rain forests.
Academic text (1997) -
But only one, the Caribbean National Forest in eastern Puerto Rico, contains a tropical rain forest, El Yunque.
Academic text (1991) -
In some tropical rain forests, topsoil would be washed away if the forests were cleared for intensive agriculture.
Academic text (1990) -
The tropical rain forest is home to a diverse range of plants and animals.
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Scientists study the ecosystems within the tropical rain forest to understand biodiversity.
Synonyms
383
1.0
A dense tropical forest with thick plants that are hard to walk through
103
2.3
A large, thick forest that gets a lot of rain and has many plants and animals
26
1.6
A large thick forest in the tropics with very heavy rain
A thick tropical forest like the Amazon with many plants and animals
How Wet
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from the constituents: 'tropical' (relating to the tropics) + 'rain' (heavy precipitation) + 'forest' (a large area of trees), so a learner who knows those words can infer a forest in the tropics with abundant rainfall. This noun phrase follows a common, cross-linguistic modifier+noun pattern and is therefore immediately comprehensible to B1 learners.
Etymology
Tropical rain forest paints a simple picture: tropical means warm places near the equator, rain means lots of wet weather, and forest means many trees. So the name describes a thick, green forest in warm areas that gets 'a lot of rain' and supports many plants and animals.