I. ˈhärvə̇st, ˈhȧv- noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English hervest autumn, from Old English hærfest; akin to Old High German herbist autumn, Old Norse haust autumn, Latin carpere to gather, pluck, Greek karpos fruit, Sanskrit kṛpāṇa sword, Greek keirein to cut — more at shear
1. : the season for gathering in agricultural crops
he who has seen ten winters or harvests is ten years old — M.P.Nilsson
considerable variation in the Territory as regards the date of the harvest — Tanganyika Territory
2.
a. : the act or process of gathering in a crop
the hay harvest
reduce the numbers of fish … through more intensive and efficient harvest by anglers — L.S.Marceau
b. : the gathering in of something other than a crop
more to these poems than just the … harvest of a trained eye — Times Literary Supplement
3.
a. : a mature crop of grain or fruit : yield
bountiful harvests of corn — John Bird
b. : the quantity of any natural product gathered usually from a single area within a single season
harvest of elk
harvest of beaver skins
salt harvest
ice harvest
4. : an accumulated store or productive result : achievement , ingathering
one's total harvest of thinking, feeling, living, and observing — T.S.Eliot
the final harvest of the theocracy — V.L.Parrington
harvest of the guillotine — Alfred Cobban
harvest of half crowns — W.J.MacQueen-Pope
5. or harvest brown : a brownish orange to light brown that is lighter than sorrel or tawny, redder and lighter than raw sienna, and slightly yellower and lighter than caramel
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English hervesten, from hervest, n.
transitive verb
1.
a. : to gather in (a crop) : reap
when all the beets are harvested a steam shovel loads them on trucks — American Guide Series: Minnesota
b. : to gather (a natural product) as if by harvesting
harvest honey
harvest timber
harvest whales
2.
a. : to accumulate a store of
harvest news leads and witticisms — Bennett Cerf
b. : to win as a result of achievements
harvested rewards in fame and wealth … simply undreamed of — New York Herald Tribune
intransitive verb
: to gather in a food crop
sold it standing in the field to save himself the trouble of harvesting — Pearl Buck
the husky black bear harvests upon both soil and water — George Heinold
Synonyms: see reap
III. transitive verb
: to remove or extract (as living cells, tissues, or organs) from culture or from a living or recently deceased body especially for transplanting