earth up
Verb (transitive): To cover, surround, or block the base or lower part of a plant, structure, or object by mounding soil around it. This action is typically done to provide support, promote root growth, or protect from the elements.
The verb "earth up" is used specifically in gardening, agriculture, and landscaping contexts. It describes the deliberate action of drawing soil up around something. It is often followed by the object being covered. * You earth up potato plants to prevent the tubers from being exposed to sunlight, which turns them green and toxic. * After the landslide, workers had to earth up the foundation of the house to stabilize it. * The gardener earths up the leeks to blanch the stems.
- The term is commonly used in the passive voice to describe the state of having been covered with soil.
- The celery needs to be earthed up for several weeks before harvest.
- It can be used figuratively to describe the act of burying or covering something completely, though this is less common.
- The old ruins were gradually earthed up by centuries of sediment.
- Earthing up (n): The process or action of earthing up.
- The earthing up of potatoes is an essential gardening task.
- Hill up: A near-synonymous phrasal verb, especially in American English, often used for mounding soil around plants.
- Remember to hill up your corn plants for better root support.
- Mound: To heap or pile up, especially earth.
- Bank up: To form into a bank or mound, often with earth.
- Hill: (As a verb) To form into a hill or mound around plants.
- Earth over: Similar to "earth up," but can imply covering the top more completely.
- They earthed over the tree's roots to protect them from frost.
The core meaning of "earth up" is agricultural. It should not be confused with the general phrase "on earth," which is used for emphasis in questions (e.g., "What on earth are you doing?"). These are separate lexical items.
- block with earth, as after a landslide