harvest

[ hahr-vist ]

noun

1. the gathering of crops:

   Drought has delayed the harvest of corn, peanuts, potatoes, and other vegetables.

2. the season when ripened crops are gathered:

   All through springtime, summer, and harvest, she waited for him.

3. a crop or yield of one growing season:

   Our blackberries are on track to meet or exceed last year's harvest of 30 lbs.

4. a supply of anything gathered at maturity and stored:

   The silos held an abundant harvest of wheat.

5. the taking or removal of animals to be killed for food or other uses:

   Some have called the harvest of nautilus shells for jewelry and ornaments a “horrendous slaughter.”

6. the collection of any resource for future use:

   Rules were established to limit the harvest of forest resources for fuel and building materials.

7. the extraction of an organ or tissue from a body for the purpose of transplant or scientific research:

   The new method could improve the harvest of stem cells from umbilical cord blood.

8. the result or consequence of any act, process, or event:

   The journey yielded a harvest of wonderful memories.

   Synonyms: return, product, collection, accumulation

verb (used with object)

1. to gather (a crop or the like); reap:

   It’s time to harvest the corn.

2. to gather the crop from:

   The farmer hired a few day laborers to help harvest his fields.

3. to gain, win, or use (a prize, product, or result of any past act, process, etc.):

   The country hopes to harvest dividends from staging a problem-free Olympics next year.

4. to catch, take, or remove (animals), especially for food:

   Fishermen harvested hundreds of salmon from the river.

5. to collect (any resource) for future use:

   to harvest solar energy;

   spammers who harvest email addresses.

6. to extract (an organ or tissue) from a living or dead body, as for transplantation or research:

   to harvest a kidney;

   to harvest embryos.

verb (used without object)

1. to gather a crop; reap:

   We saw whole families out in the fields, harvesting.

harvest

/ ˈhɑːvɪst /

noun

1. the gathering of a ripened crop
2. the crop itself or the yield from it in a single growing season
3. the season for gathering crops
4. the product of an effort, action, etc

   a harvest of love

verb

1. to gather or reap (a ripened crop) from (the place where it has been growing)
2. tr to receive or reap (benefits, consequences, etc)
3. tr to remove (an organ) from the body for transplantation

Derived Forms

• ˈharvesting, noun
• ˈharvestless, adjective

Other Words From

• har·vest·a·ble adjective
• har·vest·a·bil·i·ty [hahr-vis-t, uh, -, bil, -i-tee], noun
• har·vest·less adjective
• half-har·vest·ed adjective
• post·har·vest adjective
• pre·har·vest noun
• re·har·vest verb
• un·har·vest·ed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of harvest¹

First recorded before 950; Middle English; Old English hærfest; cognate with German Herbst “autumn”; akin to Greek karpós “fruit,” Latin carpere “to pluck” ( carpe diem, carpel )

Word History and Origins

Origin of harvest¹

Old English hærfest; related to Old Norse harfr harrow, Old High German herbist autumn, Latin carpere to pluck, Greek karpos fruit, Sanskrit krpāna shears

Example Sentences

Rough, thick hands, toughened by farming and fighting, plunge into a sack of harvested grain, feeling the fruits of their labor.

From Los Angeles Times

Photosynthesis is in turn linked to chlorophyll pigments, tiny green molecules that play a key role in harvesting light.

From Science Daily

Brown harvested around 200 peaches this year from his small orchard — enough for his family and neighbors — but he had competition: A fox has been poking around.

From Salon

The Mountain Fire burned about a quarter of Ventura county’s avocado harvest.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s not clear yet whether the avocado market will be affected by the fire, because most of the harvest starts in winter and goes into summer in Ventura County, she said.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• accumulate
• amass
• collect
• gather
• hoard
• mow
• pick
• pluck
• reap
• take in