harvest

1 of 2

noun

har·​vest ˈhär-vəst How to pronounce harvest (audio)
often attributive
1
: the season for gathering in agricultural crops
the beginning of the harvest
2
: the act or process of gathering in a crop
assisting neighbors in their harvest
3
a
: a mature crop (as of grain or fruit) : yield
bountiful harvests
b
: the quantity of a natural product gathered in a single season
the salmon harvest
timber harvests
4
: an accumulated store or productive result
a harvest of revenue

harvest

2 of 2

verb

harvested; harvesting; harvests

transitive verb

1
a
: to gather in (a crop) : reap
harvesting corn
b
: to gather, catch, hunt, or kill (salmon, oysters, deer, etc.) for human use, sport, or population control
c
: to remove or extract (something, such as living cells, tissues, or organs) from culture (see culture entry 1 sense 3) or from a living or recently deceased body especially for transplanting
2
a
: to accumulate a store of
has now harvested this new generation's scholarly laborsM. J. Wiener
b
: to win by achievement
the team harvested several awards

intransitive verb

: to gather in a crop especially for food
sold it standing in the field to save himself the trouble of harvestingPearl Buck
harvestable adjective
harvester noun

Examples of harvest in a Sentence

Noun The beginning of the harvest varies from year to year. It is time for the harvest. They prayed for a bountiful harvest. We had enormous harvests of corn this year. Verb It is time to harvest the wheat. They want to harvest timber in these woods.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The incentivized harvest of the invasive brown trout from this area originally began in November 2020, intending to run the program for five to six years. The Arizona Republic, 1 Mar. 2024 Originally owned by Ron and Diane Miller and her mother Lillian Disney (yes, that Disney), the first wines were from the 1981 harvest. Tom Hyland, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 After harvest the grapes are cold soaked for 24 to 36 hours, then fermented for an average of 15 days on the skins. Mike Desimone and Jeff Jenssen, Robb Report, 29 Feb. 2024 Workers shuffle through that mottled brown carpet with bare feet — like kicking sand on the beach — to expose the harvest to some sun. Mumbi Gitau, Fortune Europe, 27 Feb. 2024 On October 28, 2023, Bilal Saleh woke early to prepare for the olive harvest in the village of al-Sawiya. Shane Bauer, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2024 Park explains that because the leaves are picked from the first harvest of the year, the matcha is more flavorful and nutrient-rich and the color is more vibrant. Kate Kassin, Bon Appétit, 26 Feb. 2024 Choose early, mid and late-fruiting selections to extend your harvest from summer into early fall. Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 19 Feb. 2024 While this year’s boom in spat production is one for the books and harvests have been strong, Don Boesch, president emeritus of the University of Maryland Environmental Center, is reserved. Louise Schiavone, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2024
Verb
It's both mechanically harvested and harvested by hand and is known for being a good source of antioxidants and vitamins and minerals such as folate, manganese, phosphorous, iron, vitamin B1 and magnesium. Daryl Austin, USA TODAY, 8 Mar. 2024 The brick-red creatures have been harvested commercially in Louisiana since the 1800s, and the industry brings in more than $300 million for the state’s economy each year. Rachel Ramirez, CNN, 7 Mar. 2024 Its chef, Akiya Ishibashi, is also its start-to-finish farmer, who plants the buckwheat seeds, tills the field, harvests the grain, kneads it into resulting fragrant noodles that are thick-cut and cooked al dente. Laura Manske, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024 Emu oil is harvested after an emu has died, which means it is not considered a cruelty-free product. Elizabeth Barnes, Verywell Health, 28 Feb. 2024 Oysters also pose a norovirus threat if harvested from contaminated water. Antonio Planas, NBC News, 23 Feb. 2024 Much of her youth was spent harvesting vegetables, butchering meat, and chopping wood for the winter. Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2024 Working in Argentina’s Pampas region, the designers harvest and dry the native grasses, sort them by length, and then meticulously assemble the forms piece by piece to create a series of functional sculptures used as molds and cast in aluminum. Rachel Gallaher, Robb Report, 25 Feb. 2024 After promising that its software would shield internet users from third-party tracking, Avast allegedly harvested and sold customers' online browsing data, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Kate Gibson, CBS News, 23 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'harvest.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Middle English hervest, from Old English hærfest; akin to Latin carpere to pluck, gather, Greek karpos fruit

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of harvest was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near harvest

Cite this Entry

“Harvest.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/harvest. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

harvest

1 of 2 noun
har·​vest ˈhär-vəst How to pronounce harvest (audio)
1
: the season when crops are gathered
2
: the gathering of a crop
3
: a ripe crop (as of grain or fruit)
also : the quantity of a crop gathered in a single season

harvest

2 of 2 verb
1
: to gather in a crop : reap
2
: to gather as if by harvesting
harvest timber

More from Merriam-Webster on harvest

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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