underwood

See also: Underwood

English

Etymology

From under- +‎ wood.

Noun

underwood (countable and uncountable, plural underwoods)

1. Underbrush, undergrowth.
   • 1670, John Evelyn, Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber, London, Chapter 3, Of the Oak, pp. 16-17,^[1]

     What improvement the stirring of the ground about the roots of Oaks is to the Trees I have already hinted; and yet in Copses where they stand warm, and so thickn’d with the under wood, as this culture cannot be practis’d, they prove in time to be goodly Trees.

   • 1743, Robert Drury, The Pleasant, and Surprizing Adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his Fifteen Years Captivity on the Island of Madagascar‎^[2], London, page 30:

     […] the Country near the Sea-side, and some few Miles further is full of short Under-wood, and thorny Shrubs, which tore our Cloaths to Rags […]

   • 1818, [Mary Shelley], Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, →OCLC:

     ‘Accordingly I hid myself in some thick underwood, determining to devote the ensuing hours to reflection on my situation.’

   • 1825, Laws relating to landlords, tenants, and lodgers - Volume 7, page 17:

     But tenants may cut underwood, and take wood sufficient to repair the pales, hedges, and fences, and what is called by law plough-bote, fire-bote, and other house-bote.

   • 1860, S. G. Finney, Hints to Landlords, Tenants, and Labourers, page 33:

     In cutting coppices the usual plan is to leave what is termed plashers where the underwoods are thin and require new wood; a far better plan is to plant young stuff, which is not only cheaper but makes much better underwoods.

Related terms

• underwooded