deforest
verb
de·for·est
(ˌ)dē-ˈfȯr-əst 
-ˈfär-
deforested; deforesting; deforests
: to clear (an area) of forests : to remove trees from (an area)
As eroded hillsides become useless, the displaced farmers move still farther up the mountains, deforesting still more land.—
Jane Jacobs
Jane JacobsOvergrazing has joined with the wide use of wood fuels to deforest large areas.—Nathaniel Sheppard, Jr.
Nathaniel Sheppard, Jr.Examples of deforest in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
These same governors have passed laws that effectively void the Soy Moratorium, a voluntary agreement that has contributed to a historically steep decline in deforestation by barring signatory companies from purchasing soy grown on land in the Amazon that was deforested after 2008.
—Sarah Sax, The Atlantic, 16 Apr. 2025
About that time, Dorrell was biking up Mont Ventoux in the French Alps, where the top of the mountain has been deforested and looks like a moonscape.
—Hank Tucker, Forbes.com, 8 Apr. 2025
The company has committed to having 100 percent of its leather sourced from land not converted from a natural ecosystem or deforested for the grazing of cows, which will apply to European leather by 2025 and global sourcing by 2030.
—Rhonda Richford, WWD, 31 Oct. 2024
Based on a study published in Nature Sustainability a few months ago, 1.4 million hectares (the equivalent of nine cities the size of Greater London) were deforested in 2015 to open space for pasture for cows to graze.
—Simi Thambi, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024
That’s the lesson behind a study out this week in the Journal of Applied Ecology in which researchers assessed which worms, ants, and other invertebrates were wiggling their way through plots of soil that had been deforested, revegetated, or left natural.
—Hannah Richter, science.org, 16 Aug. 2024
Up to 70,000 acres in Michoacán and neighboring Jalisco state have been deforested for avocado farming in the last decade, the data from Guardian Forestal and Climate Rights International show.
—Reuters, NBC News, 6 Aug. 2024
Reuters visited two orchards in July that an analysis of satellite images by U.S. nonprofit Climate Rights International showed were illegally deforested in Madero after 2015.
—Reuters, NBC News, 6 Aug. 2024
At the northern end of the county, a developer is deforesting upward of 500 acres in an area known as Clevenger’s Corner.
—Dana Milbank, Washington Post, 10 July 2024
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Sarah Sax, The Atlantic, 16 Apr. 2025
About that time, Dorrell was biking up Mont Ventoux in the French Alps, where the top of the mountain has been deforested and looks like a moonscape.
—Hank Tucker, Forbes.com, 8 Apr. 2025
The company has committed to having 100 percent of its leather sourced from land not converted from a natural ecosystem or deforested for the grazing of cows, which will apply to European leather by 2025 and global sourcing by 2030.
—Rhonda Richford, WWD, 31 Oct. 2024
Based on a study published in Nature Sustainability a few months ago, 1.4 million hectares (the equivalent of nine cities the size of Greater London) were deforested in 2015 to open space for pasture for cows to graze.
—Simi Thambi, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024
That’s the lesson behind a study out this week in the Journal of Applied Ecology in which researchers assessed which worms, ants, and other invertebrates were wiggling their way through plots of soil that had been deforested, revegetated, or left natural.
—Hannah Richter, science.org, 16 Aug. 2024
Up to 70,000 acres in Michoacán and neighboring Jalisco state have been deforested for avocado farming in the last decade, the data from Guardian Forestal and Climate Rights International show.
—Reuters, NBC News, 6 Aug. 2024
Reuters visited two orchards in July that an analysis of satellite images by U.S. nonprofit Climate Rights International showed were illegally deforested in Madero after 2015.
—Reuters, NBC News, 6 Aug. 2024
At the northern end of the county, a developer is deforesting upward of 500 acres in an area known as Clevenger’s Corner.
—Dana Milbank, Washington Post, 10 July 2024
Cite this Entry
“Deforest.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deforest. Accessed 24 May. 2025.
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