释义 |
ˌover-ˈcrop, v. [f. over- 1, 27 + crop v. or n.] I. †1. trans. To rise above, overtop. Obs.
1567J. Maplet Gr. Forest 38 The old Prouerbe is herein verified: the ill weede ouercroppeth the good corne. †2. To crop or lop the head of (a plant). Obs. fig.1583Golding Calvin on Deut. cviii. 667 That..all our affections be subdued to him and that our lust be ouer⁓cropped when they would carie vs here and there. II. 3. To crop (land) to excess, to exhaust by continuous cropping. Also transf.
1789Trans. Soc. Arts VII. 43 In over-cropping the land. 1850James Old Oak Chest I. 283 The eternal cultivation of the mind is like overcropping a field. 1881W. Bence Jones in Macm. Mag. XLIV. 128 The bad tenant has taken the value out by over-cropping and little manure. 1946Nature 2 Nov. 606/2 Sometimes his [sc. man's] responsibility is brought home to him by physical disaster,..as in the effects of deforestation, over-cropping or over⁓grazing. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 9 Feb. 97/1 Many instances of ‘soil sickness’..in the past would have been put down to thin or hungry soil, overcropping or bad drainage. 1974Times 25 Apr. 12/6 He worries..about the over-cropping of the sea. b. refl. See quot. (U.S. local.)
1860Bartlett Dict. Amer. s.v., A planter or farmer is said to overcrop himself when he plants or ‘seeds’ more ground than he can attend to. So ˈover-ˌcrop n., an excessive or too large crop.
1878Lumberman's Gaz. 26 Jan., The fears entertained..that there would be a ruinous over-crop of logs..harvested this winter may be dismissed. |