slash-and-burnadj.n.
Designating a method of shifting cultivation in which vegetation is cut down in an area of virgin or rejuvenated forest, allowed to dry, and then burned off before seeds are planted. Also (occasionally) in non-attributive use.
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the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > [adjective] > systems of cultivation
Virgilian1724
open field1728
three-field1869
intercultural1878
no-tillage1911
monocultural1915
polycultural1915
monoculture1933
slash-and-burn1942
slashed and burnt1949
1942 Chapple & Coon Princ. Anthropol. viii. 189 Linton has a theory that the development of confederacies by the Maya and the Indians of the southeastern States was a consequence of this aspect of the slash-and-burn system.
1951 K. G. Izikowitz Lamet Hill Peasants in French Indo-China 7 This is a book about the Lamet, swidden cultivators in the northern part of Laos. [Note] The primitive system of farming which involves clearing and burning the forest... In English it is sometimes called ‘shifting cultivation’ or ‘slash and burn’. There is no single word in ordinary English which covers the meaning, since the method is no longer used in England... In searching for an English word I have taken..a dialect word, swidden.
1969 G. Clark World Prehist. (ed. 2) vi. 126 The rapidity of their spread..was due in part to their use of slash and burn agriculture,..and in part to the lack of opposition.
1973 J. J. McKelvey Man against Tsetse iii. 190 The Kibori River eradication program..obviated the need to continue with a slash-burn program.
1976 Conservation News Sept.–Oct. 5/1 The slash, burn, short-term cultivation and migration habit of tribal populations has been forced for centuries by the intractable fact that when an area of forest is cleared crops can be grown in it for only two or three seasons before the soil nutrients are exhausted.
1977 G. Clark World Prehist. (ed. 3) iii. 126 The regime of slash and burn, involving the shift of cultivation every few years and the clearance of new patches of forest, inevitably implied the temporary abandonment of settlements.
1978 Guardian Weekly 2 Apr. 13/1 Eking out a living by fishing, picking fruit and berries and by slash-and-burn farming.
Derivatives
slash and burn v. transitive.
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the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > reclamation > reclaim [verb (transitive)] > clear land > burn land
burn-beat1669
Denshire1669
to burn off1843
stifle-burn1862
slash and burn1955
1955 J. D. Freeman Iban Agric. vi. 128 Deleterious results..ensue when healthy, young vegetation..is slashed and burnt before proper regeneration..has taken place.
1981 P. Theroux Mosquito Coast xii. 137 Slash and burn the whole area and we've got four or five acres of good growing land.
slash-ˈburning n. the process or practice of slash-and-burn agriculture.
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the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > reclamation > [noun] > clearing land > burning off refuse
burrow1602
denshiring1607
burning1669
burn-baking1769
burn1792
burning off1800
burnbeating1808
stifle-burning1844
burn-off1861
bush burn1861
bush-burning1898
slash-burning1919
1919 Jrnl. Forestry 17 277 It is proposed..to conduct slash-burning operations under control in selected localities [in Canada] and observe the establishment of natural regeneration through a period of years.
1954 Brit. Columbia Lumberman Mar. 78 Slash burning in a good seed year should precede seedfall, if possible.
1980 Search XI. 71/2 Since slash-burning has been widely used only for the last 20–25 years, there has been no opportunity in Australian native forests to observe its effect on the productivity of successive forest rotations.
slashed and burnt adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > [adjective] > systems of cultivation
Virgilian1724
open field1728
three-field1869
intercultural1878
no-tillage1911
monocultural1915
polycultural1915
monoculture1933
slash-and-burn1942
slashed and burnt1949
1949 Malayan Forester XII. 83 The plot was established in order to ascertain the extent of soil erosion..and to study natural plant succession of the slashed and burnt..areas.
1955 J. D. Freeman Iban Agric. vi. 129 Three sample plots were established to study ‘natural plant succession’, on (a) the slashed and burnt area [etc.].
Draft additions May 2001
2. figurative. Originally and chiefly U.S. Also slash'n'burn. Designating a highly aggressive or ruthless approach, attitude, etc.; devastatingly destructive or critical; swingeing, unstinting, no-holds-barred. Also (occasionally) in predicative use as n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > hostile action or attack > [adjective] > disposed to hostile action
aggressive1773
fire-eating1811
pistolling1877
muscle flexing1905
sword-in-hand1906
storm-trooping1933
butt-kicking1973
slash-and-burn1978
ill1979
1978 Washington Post 6 Aug. b3/2 At a time when urban renewal seems to employ a slash-and-burn method of modernization..a band of concerned citizens has saved the architectural ancestry of Cape May.
1981 United Press Internat. Newswire (Nexis) 27 Feb. Faced with inevitable defeat, I began slash-and-burn techniques in the hope that somehow my petty harassing moves would force an error. But..by the 29th move, checkmate was imminent.
1985 Money Oct. 140/2 Even if you think of yourself as the last of the great slash-and-burn investors, you should try to construct a sensibly aggressive IRA composed..of..investments that also have potential for capital appreciation.
1987 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times 24 Oct. 4 d/2 There is..a full helping of slash-and-burn humor.
1989 Sound Choice Autumn 28/2 This is a fine publication of slash-and-burn criticism.
1994 Our Schools/Our Selves Nov. 153 A Sad Time To Be A Teacher... Slash and Burn in Alberta Schools.
1998 Melody Maker 28 Feb. 36/1 The shift from drowned Portishead-style noir to raging, slash'n'burn riffola is worthy of Prince at his furthest out.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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adj.n.1919