coppice
/ˈkɒpɪs/
coppice noun: a grove of small growth; a thicket of brushwood; a wood cut at certain times for fuel or other purposes, typically managed to promote growth and ensure a reliable supply of timber. See copse.
Noun
coppice (plural coppices)
- A grove of small growth; a thicket of brushwood; a wood cut at certain times for fuel or other purposes, typically managed to promote growth and ensure a reliable supply of timber. See copse.
- […]belts of thin white mist streaked the brown plough land in the hollow where Appleby could see the pale shine of a winding river. Across that in turn, meadow and coppice rolled away past the white walls of a village bowered in orchards,[…]1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 1, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC
- It was also enacted that all coppices or underwoods should be enclosed for periods from four to seven years after felling.1957, H.R. Schubert, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry, page 216
- Synonyms:
- copse
Verb
coppice (third-person singular simple present coppices, present participle coppicing, simple past and past participle coppiced)
- To manage (a wooded area) sustainably, as a coppice, by periodically cutting back woody plants to promote new growth.
- Her plan to coppice the woods should keep her self-sufficient in fuel indefinitely.
- To sprout from the stump.
- Few conifer species can coppice.
Examples of coppice in a sentence
- There he is! Coming out of that coppice! Tallyho tallyho tallyho!
- Some people refer to stooling as coppice.
- Sadly, in many parts of the country this is the commonest form of coppice you are likely to see.
Synonyms of coppice
Forms of coppice
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | coppices |
| alternative form (obsolete) | coppis |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | coppices |
| present participle | coppicing |
| past participle | coppiced |
| past | coppiced |
Origin of coppice
From Middle English copies, from Old French copeiz (“a cut-over forest”), from presumed Vulgar Latin *colpaticium (“having the quality of being cut”), from *colpāre (“to cut, strike”), from *colpus (“a blow”), from Latin colaphus (“a cuff, box on the ear”), from Ancient Greek κόλαφος (kólaphos, “a blow, slap”). Compare typologically Russian колок (kolok) (akin коло́ть (kolótʹ)).
Words formed from coppice
Phrases with coppice
Questions about coppice
- What does coppice mean?
- Coppice means a grove of small growth; a thicket of brushwood; a wood cut at certain times for fuel or other purposes, typically managed to promote growth and ensure a reliable supply of timber. See copse.
- What part of speech is coppice?
- Coppice can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce coppice?
- Coppice is pronounced /ˈkɒpɪs/.
- What is the plural of coppice?
- The plural of coppice is coppices.
Words near coppice in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: coppice (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-coppice.wav.
Cite this entry: “coppice.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/coppice. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.