Definition of "grove" in English

noun

1. A small forest.

2. A small forest with minimal undergrowth.

   • Near-synonym: woodland

3. An orchard of fruit trees.

4. (Druidism, Wicca) A place of worship.

5. A lodge of the Ancient Order of Druids.

verb

1. To cultivate in groves; to grow naturally so as to form groves.

   • 1984, Queensland Botany Bulletin, Issue 3, Department of Primary Industries, page 82, Virtually recognizable groving occurs in some A. aneura associations in the west. Further east some diffuse groving may occur, but is difficult to recognize without the benefit of aerial photographs.

2. (forestry, of trees) To cultivate with periodic harvesting that also serves to create order (gaps and lines of trees) to facilitate further harvesting.

3. To plough or gouge with lines.

   • 1823, Instinct, in "Sholto and Reuben Percy" (Thomas Byerley), The Percy Anecdotes: Original and Select, Volume 9: Instinct—Ingenuity, page 138, Very frequently, however, to shorten the distance to the upper nurseries, where they have to take the eggs, they project an arch of about ten inches in length, and half an inch in breadth, groved or worked into steps, on its upper surface, to allow of a more easy passage.