fallows

Noun

fallow (countable and uncountable, plural fallows)

1. (uncountable) Ground ploughed and harrowed but left unseeded for one year.
   • Straight mine eye hath caught new pleasures
     Whilst the landskip round it measures,
     Russet lawns, and fallows gray,
     Where the nibbling flocks do stray;
     Mountains on whose barren breast
     The labouring clouds do often rest;
     Meadows trim with daisies pied,
     Shallow brooks, and rivers wide.1645, John Milton, L'Allegro
2. (uncountable) Uncultivated land.
3. The ploughing or tilling of land, without sowing it for a season.
   • By a complete summer fallow, land is rendered tender and mellow. The fallow gives it a better tilth than can be given by a fallow crop.1832, Sir John Sinclair, The Code of Agriculture

See all 8 meanings of fallow