Definition

Adjective: 1. Not cultivated with a plow: Describing land, especially farmland, that has not been turned or broken up with a plow. It often implies land that is in its natural, undisturbed state or has been left fallow. * The farmer left the back field unploughed this year to let the soil recover. * We hiked through acres of unploughed prairie land.

Usage

The adjective "unploughed" is used almost exclusively to describe land or soil. It is the standard spelling in British English. In American English, the spelling "unplowed" is more common. It is the direct opposite of "ploughed" or "plowed."

Examples

• Adjective:
  • The contrast between the unploughed meadow and the neat rows of the cultivated field was striking.
  • Conservationists advocate leaving some fields unploughed to provide habitat for wildlife.
  • Snow lay thick on the unploughed road, making it impassable for cars.

Advanced Usage

• Figurative Use: Rarely, it can be used metaphorically to describe an area of study, thought, or experience that has not been explored or developed.
  • Her research delves into previously unploughed territory in the field of cognitive science. (This usage is stylistic and less common.)

Variants and Related Words

• Unplowed (adj.): The American English spelling of "unploughed," identical in meaning.
• Unbroken (adj.): (Of land) not broken up for cultivation; similar to "unploughed" but can also refer to land that has never been farmed.
• Fallow (adj.): (Of farmland) plowed and left unseeded for a season to restore fertility. A fallow field may be ploughed or unploughed; the key aspect is that it is not sown with crops.
• Untilled (adj.): Not prepared and cultivated for raising crops; a close synonym encompassing both plowing and other cultivation methods.
• Virgin land/soil: Land that has never been cultivated.

Synonyms

• Untilled, uncultivated, unfarmed, unbroken.

Antonyms

• Ploughed (plowed), tilled, cultivated, farmed.

Adjective

1. (of farmland) not plowed
   • unplowed fields
   • unbroken land