VEGETATION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does vegetation mean? 

• VEGETATION (noun)
  The noun VEGETATION has 4 senses:

1. all the plant life in a particular region or period

2. the process of growth in plants

3. an abnormal growth or excrescence (especially a warty excrescence on the valves of the heart)

4. inactivity that is passive and monotonous, comparable to the inactivity of plant life

  Familiarity information: VEGETATION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• VEGETATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

All the plant life in a particular region or period

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

botany; flora; vegetation

Context example:

the botany of China

Hypernyms ("vegetation" is a kind of...):

accumulation; aggregation; assemblage; collection (several things grouped together or considered as a whole)

Domain category:

flora; plant; plant life ((botany) a living organism lacking the power of locomotion)

Domain member category:

cut; mown ((used of grass or vegetation) cut down with a hand implement or machine)

uncut; unmown ((used of grass or vegetation) not cut down with a hand implement or machine)

sprouted ((of growing vegetation) having just emerged from the ground)

dried-up; sear; sere; shriveled; shrivelled; withered ((used especially of vegetation) having lost all moisture)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "vegetation"):

browse (vegetation (such as young shoots, twigs, and leaves) that is suitable for animals to eat)

brush; brushwood; coppice; copse; thicket (a dense growth of bushes)

growth (vegetation that has grown)

bush; chaparral; scrub (dense vegetation consisting of stunted trees or bushes)

stand (a growth of similar plants (usually trees) in a particular area)

forest; wood; woods (the trees and other plants in a large densely wooded area)

shrubbery (a collection of shrubs growing together)

garden (the flowers or vegetables or fruits or herbs that are cultivated in a garden)

brier; brier patch; brierpatch (tangled mass of prickly plants)

ground cover; groundcover (low-growing plants planted in deep shade or on a steep slope where turf is difficult to grow)

Holonyms ("vegetation" is a member of...):

biology; biota (all the plant and animal life of a particular region)

Derivation:

vegetate (establish vegetation on)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The process of growth in plants

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Hypernyms ("vegetation" is a kind of...):

development; growing; growth; maturation; ontogenesis; ontogeny ((biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically; a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level)

Derivation:

vegetate (grow like a plant)

vegetate (produce vegetation)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An abnormal growth or excrescence (especially a warty excrescence on the valves of the heart)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("vegetation" is a kind of...):

excrescence ((pathology) an abnormal outgrowth or enlargement of some part of the body)

Derivation:

vegetate (grow or spread abnormally)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Inactivity that is passive and monotonous, comparable to the inactivity of plant life

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

their holiday was spent in sleep and vegetation

Hypernyms ("vegetation" is a kind of...):

dormancy; quiescence; quiescency; sleeping (quiet and inactive restfulness)

Derivation:

vegetate (engage in passive relaxation)

vegetate (lead a passive existence without using one's body or mind)

 Context examples 

This enabled them to be more confident that vegetation plays a role in reduced mortality, rather than these factors.

(Greenness around homes linked to lower mortality, NIH)

She had not known before how much the beginnings and progress of vegetation had delighted her.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

It measures how plants absorb and reflect light — the more infrared light is reflected, the healthier the vegetation.

(Tracking Deer by NASA Satellite, NASA)

Because snow and ice reflect more light than vegetation or water, the spring is brighter than the summer or autumn, when there is much less snow and ice.

(Earthshine, NASA)

Previous research shows that the timing and rate at which snow melts can affect the amount and quality of water available for vegetation, farming and fishing.

(Earlier snowmelt decreases streamflow, reduces forests' ability to regulate atmospheric carbon dioxide, NSF)

Shifts in tropical atmospheric circulation known as Hadley circulation led to changes in climate and vegetation, especially grasses, which expanded the mammals' range.

(Six million years ago, atmospheric shifts led to increased diversity of grassland mammals, National Science Foundation)

Current global vegetation models have faced challenges in producing consistent estimates of plant CO2 uptake, scientists say.

(What's killing trees during droughts?, National Science Foundation)

The El Cerrado is an area with open vegetation, shrubs and grasses.

(Fire control harms biodiversity in Brazilian savannah, SciDev.Net)

As the climate warms, vegetation cover is increasing in forests of the northern latitudes.

(Climate change could double greenhouse gas emissions from freshwater ecosystems, University of Cambridge)

Blood and urine samples showed vegetation boosted their blood vessels and heart health by reducing stress and improving air quality.

(People Living Near Parks in Cities Less Likely to Face Early Death, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)