— forestal, forestial /feuh res"cheuhl/ , adj. — forested , adj. — forestless , adj. — forestlike , adj.
/fawr"ist, for"-/ , n.
1. a large tract of land covered with trees and underbrush; woodland.
2. the trees on such a tract: to cut down a forest.
3. a tract of wooded grounds in England formerly belonging to the sovereign and set apart for game.
4. a thick cluster of vertical objects: a forest of church spires.
v.t.
5. to supply or cover with trees; convert into a forest.
[ 1250-1300; ME forestis ( silva ) an unenclosed wood (as opposed to a park), deriv. of L foris outside. Cf. FOREIGN ]
Syn. 1. FOREST, GROVE, WOOD refer to an area covered with trees. A FOREST is an extensive area, preserving some or all of its primitive wildness and usually having game or wild animals in it: Sherwood Forest; the Black Forest. A GROVE is a group or cluster of trees, usually not very large in area and cleared of underbrush. It is usually tended or cultivated: a shady grove; a grove of pines; an orange grove; a walnut grove. WOODS (or a WOOD) resembles a forest but is a smaller tract of land, less wild in character, and generally closer to civilization: lost in the woods; a wood covering several acres.