: of, relating to, or being a forest characterized by the presence of large old trees, numerous snags and woody debris, and a multilayered canopy and that is usually in a late stage of ecological succession
old growth noun

Examples of old-growth in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Their main threat is loss of habitat, the living, old-growth longleaf pines. Joe Rassel, Orlando Sentinel, 6 Feb. 2025 Photo by Carmen Bird Aotea (Great Barrier Island), New Zealand Also on Afar’s Where to Go in 2025 list, Aotea (Great Barrier Island) is an off-the-grid paradise of white-sand beaches and old-growth kauri forests. Becca Blond, AFAR Media, 5 Feb. 2025 Denver Given their size, bald eagle nests need a substantial tree to host them, and in the lowlands of Colorado, that’s almost exclusively old-growth cottonwoods. Jamie Siebrase, The Denver Post, 5 Feb. 2025 The great tit nestlings in the younger forests tended to have higher stress levels than nestlings in the older growth forests—and nestlings from those younger forests had, on average, shorter telomeres than nestlings from the old-growth forests. Ethan Freedman, Popular Science, 29 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for old-growth 

Word History

First Known Use

1868, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of old-growth was in 1868

Dictionary Entries Near old-growth

Cite this Entry

“Old-growth.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/old-growth. Accessed 12 Feb. 2025.

Kids Definition

old-growth

adjective
ˈōl(d)-ˈgrōth
: of, relating to, or being a forest characterized by the presence of large old trees, dead standing trees, and fallen rotting trees and that is usually in a late stage of development
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