as in dormant
not being in a state of use, activity, or employment
the coal mine has been lying fallow since the drop in prices made it unprofitable
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Recent Examples of fallow
Laura Reiley, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Sep. 2022
Compromising probably would require money — perhaps tax money — to pay farmers to fallow their land and governments to build new canals and repair old ones.
—Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2023
Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 19 June 2025
The picture arrives, of course, at a fallow time for Marvel, after a string of duds and an abortive attempt to introduce a new superhero phase following the climactic, stage-clearing (and absurdly lucrative) battles of Avengers: Endgame.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 23 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for fallow
Adjective
Many growers decided to fallow their fields and sell their water to perennial crops like almonds to defray their losses.
—Laura Reiley, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Sep. 2022
Compromising probably would require money — perhaps tax money — to pay farmers to fallow their land and governments to build new canals and repair old ones.
—Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2023
Verb
Sometimes those special circumstances go against national pride: there have been fallow years for British tennis in which the club has decided not to award all the wild cards, instead giving the spots to the players ranked just outside the cutoff for entry.
—Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 19 June 2025
The picture arrives, of course, at a fallow time for Marvel, after a string of duds and an abortive attempt to introduce a new superhero phase following the climactic, stage-clearing (and absurdly lucrative) battles of Avengers: Endgame.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 23 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for fallow
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fallow
Adjective
-
What should be a tender, feminist-minded story centered on a young woman rediscovering her dormant childhood dreamer turns into a middling melodrama about being with a cute guy in desperate need of her rescue.—
Courtney Howard,
Variety,
1 Aug. 2025
-
After remission, cancer cells may remain dormant for years before spreading— notably in the lungs or other organs—and causing a relapse.—
Hannah Millington,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 July 2025
Verb
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The researchers also found burrows dug by some of the animals, as well as scrapes on rocks where the mollusks had raked their teeth to gather up algae or bacteria for food.—
Sara Hashemi,
Smithsonian Magazine,
29 July 2025
-
The Royals made news in Chicago on Wednesday morning, calling up a familiar face who’s been raking at Triple-A Omaha.—
Pete Grathoff,
Kansas City Star,
23 July 2025
Adjective
-
Pete Crow-Armstrong, Justin Turner and more were in attendance, taking advantage of the Cubs having an off day after several of them put in a shift signing autographs at The National earlier in the day.—
The Athletic Collectibles Staff,
New York Times,
1 Aug. 2025
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The attacker, 27-year-old Shane Devon Tamura, entered the office tower with an assault rifle and body armor, fatally shooting a security guard, a Blackstone executive, a Rudin Management associate, and an off-duty NYPD officer before taking his own life.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
31 July 2025
Verb
-
One person whose voice stuck out for Fields-Black was Minus Hamilton, an 88-year-old who was hoeing the rice fields at the time of the raid.—
Eli Wizevich,
Smithsonian Magazine,
25 June 2025
-
To stay on top of weeds, plan to hand-pull or hoe down weeds early in the season when their root systems are still small, and then spend a few minutes weeding each week.—
Lauren Landers,
Better Homes & Gardens,
14 June 2025
Adjective
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After hosting pop ups at Batch and elsewhere for a couple of years, Lit offered Fulco the vacant trailer space at Batch.—
Matthew Odam,
Austin American Statesman,
25 July 2025
-
None of the 408 properties — occupied or vacant — at the center of the litigation have a certificate of compliance, according to the city's lawsuit, which also alleges hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid blight violations.—
Nushrat Rahman,
Freep.com,
25 July 2025
Verb
-
The platform works with property owners to automate everything from listing properties and managing viewings to vetting tenants and coordinating maintenance, right down to scheduling a handyman or janitor.—
Zoya Hasan,
Forbes.com,
25 July 2025
-
Rehabilitation of a structure called the parallel gravity line, a backup pipe that can collect overflow from the Tijuana wastewater system, is also prioritized and listed at a cost of $8.2 million.—
Paul Sisson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
25 July 2025
Adjective
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Those with a relationship cash value of less than $250,000 can get 0.15% APY on their idle funds, while the largest accounts – those with $10 million or above in cash balances – can pick up 2.28%.—
Darla Mercado, CFP®,
CNBC,
22 July 2025
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Years passed and the farming operation fizzled, then the barn sat idle for nearly three decades.—
Pamela McLoughlin,
Hartford Courant,
17 July 2025
Verb
-
Before the big race, the track was harrowed, bringing it to a better and drier racing surface.—
John Cherwa,
Los Angeles Times,
7 June 2025
-
The research fellow who met me, Birte, was in her forties, and appeared as if she had been harrowed by her work.—
John Ganz,
Harper's Magazine,
22 May 2024
Cite this Entry
“Fallow.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fallow. Accessed 7 Aug. 2025.
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