fallow

/ˈfæloʊ/
/ˈfæləʊ/
IPA guide

Other forms: fallows

Something that is fallow is left unused. If you’re smart but lazy, someone might say you have a fallow mind.

We use the word to talk about any unused resource, it started as a work about land. Fallow comes from the old English word for plowing, and refers to the practice of leaving fields unplowed in rotation — when a field lies fallow, the soil regains nutrients that are sucked up by over-planting.

Definitions of fallow
  1. adjective
    left unplowed and unseeded during a growing season
    “fallow farmland”
    synonyms:
    unbroken, unploughed, unplowed
    (of farmland) not plowed
  2. adjective
    undeveloped but potentially useful
    “a fallow gold market”
    synonyms:
    undeveloped, unexploited
    undeveloped or unused
  3. noun
    cultivated land that is not seeded for one or more growing seasons
    see moresee less
    type of:
    cultivated land, farmland, ploughland, plowland, tillage, tilled land, tilth
    arable land that is worked by plowing and sowing and raising crops
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘fallow'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of gold-punch.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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