thinning

1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of thin

plural thinnings

1. agricultureProcess of removing plants or parts of plants to facilitate the growth of other plants

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

   1881, Indiana State Board of Agriculture, “Forestry”, in Annual Report of the Indiana State Board of Agriculture, page 232

2. agricultureWood, leaves, or other plant parts removed during the process of thinning

   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,

   1878, Wisconsin State Horticultural Society, “Trees for the roadside and farm”, in Annual report of the Wisconsin State Horticultural Society, page 59

3. The action or result of reducing thickness, density, or number

   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.

   1885, Robert Barnes, A System of Obstetric Medicine and Surgery, volume 2, page 614

comparative more thinning · superlative most thinning

1. not comparableusuallyBecoming less thick, dense, or numerous

   thinning hair