thinning

thinning

1. present participle and gerund of thin

thinning (plural thinnings)

1. (agriculture, forestry) Process of removing plants or parts of plants to facilitate the growth of other plants
   • 1881, Indiana State Board of Agriculture, “Forestry”, in Annual Report of the Indiana State Board of Agriculture‎, page 232:

     The trimming, pruning and thinning must be managed with care. Some need more thinning than others.

2. (agriculture, forestry) Wood, leaves, or other plant parts removed during the process of thinning
   • 1878, Wisconsin State Horticultural Society, “Trees for the roadside and farm”, in Annual report of the Wisconsin State Horticultural Society‎, page 59:

     but with a suitable mixture of early and late maturing kinds, the young hickories, ashs and larches can be utilized as thinnings, at a profit. In estimating the value of the thinnings upon the basis of Prof. Sargent's estimate of the acreage yield of hoop poles from hickory plantations,

3. The action or result of reducing thickness, density, or number
   • 1885, Robert Barnes, A System of Obstetric Medicine and Surgery, volume 2‎, page 614:

     It is highly likely that this thinning was not atrophic or pathological, but simply the thinning from stretching under the forces of labor, as Bandl and others explain it.

• pruning

thinning (not generally comparable, comparative more thinning, superlative most thinning)

1. Becoming less thick, dense, or numerous

   thinning hair

• ninthing