forest floor

noun

: the richly organic layer of soil and debris characteristic of forested land

Examples of forest floor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Giant Crab Spider, Ecuador An insect making its way across the forest floor in the Ecuadorian Amazon at night can never feel fully safe. Gabe Allen, Discover Magazine, 30 Oct. 2023 The man suffered serious injuries after falling in an area known for its rocky cliffs, and emergency responders worked for seven hours through the night to execute a plan that would eventually extract him from the forest floor, per McDowell County Emergency Management and WLOS. Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 27 Oct. 2023 Similar fears lead fire agencies to tame moderate fires that can clear forest floors. Brian Melley, Fortune, 26 Oct. 2023 Aging and Sexing Male and female woodcock plumage matches leaf litter on the forest floor to disguise the birds from predators. Matthew Every, Field & Stream, 18 Oct. 2023 The forest floor is alive with mushrooms, lichens, moss and fox droppings. William Booth, Washington Post, 31 Oct. 2023 Drought and high heat, which many parts of the country have experienced recently, can make trees vulnerable to fire and dry out dead grass, pine needles, and any other material on the bottom of the forest floor that act as kindling when a fire sweeps through a forest. Vjosa Isai, New York Times, 7 June 2023 These multitudes of hairlike fungal threads—individually called hyphae, and collectively, mycelium—are the true body of fungi, shuttling nutrients to and fro across the forest floor. Zoë Schlanger, The Atlantic, 23 Oct. 2023 Swan, an activist who asked to use a code name, came back around the same time and saw their belongings strewn across the forest floor from the raid. Hilary Beaumont, Rolling Stone, 16 Oct. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'forest floor.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1849, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of forest floor was in 1849

Dictionary Entries Near forest floor

Cite this Entry

“Forest floor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/forest%20floor. Accessed 1 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

forest floor

noun
: the upper layer of mixed soil and decayed or decaying organic material typical of forested land
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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