Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In English law, to grub up (trees and bushes); clear (wood-land).
  • noun In English law: The act of grubbing up trees and bushes in a forest. A tree grubbed up by the roots. A piece of land cleared, as by grubbing.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To grub up, as trees; to commit an assart upon.
  • noun (Old Law) The act or offense of grubbing up trees and bushes, and thus destroying the thickets or coverts of a forest.
  • noun A piece of land cleared of trees and bushes, and fitted for cultivation; a clearing.
  • noun forest land cleared of woods and brush.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Forest land cleared for agriculture.
  • verb To clear forest land for agriculture; remove stumps.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • 'Therefore, Father, it was no great surprise to us, some four days ago, when a lad from an assart west of us came running in haste to tell us how his father's cot and holding was laid waste, his family fled eastward, and how a Welsh raiding party was drinking its fill in what remained of his home, and boasting how it would disembowel the nunnery of Godric's Ford.

    A Caregiver's Homage To The Very Old 2010

  • The thicker woodland opened out on the southern side of the track, letting light through the trees to enrich the grasses and wild ground plants below, and someone had chosen this favourable spot to cut out an assart for himself.

    A River So Long 2010

  • The news was surely making its way about the countryside by this time, from village to village and assart to manor round the shire, and no doubt men and women in the streets of Shrewsbury were busily allotting the blame to this one and that one, with Elis ap Cynan their favourite villain.

    A Caregiver's Homage To The Very Old 2010

  • The thicker woodland opened out on the southern side of the track, letting light through the trees to enrich the grasses and wild ground plants below, and someone had chosen this favourable spot to cut out an assart for himself.

    Brother Cadfael's Penance Peters, Ellis, 1913- 1994

  • The first here were from an assart only cut from the woods a few years back, it was a godsend indeed to them.

    The Holy Thief Peters, Ellis, 1913-1995 1992

  • Passing by at a smart trot the forester's assart near Chenet, with only a maidservant and two grooms in her train, and striking an elusive spark in Cadfael's memory.

    The Confession of Brother Haluin Peters, Ellis, 1913- 1988

  • From the forester's small assart among the trees it was possible to see the cleared grey of the track in broken glimpses between the old trunks, for the growth was close enough to keep the ground almost clear of underbrush.

    The Confession of Brother Haluin Peters, Ellis, 1913- 1988

  • Having had so little sleep they made no haste, but went steadily, and took whatever rests offered along the way, wherever a solitary assart provided the hospitality of a bench by the hearth, and a few minutes of neighbourly gossip in passing.

    The Confession of Brother Haluin Peters, Ellis, 1913- 1988

  • Having had so little sleep they made no haste, but went steadily, and took whatever rests offered along the way, wherever a solitary assart provided the hospitality of a bench by the hearth, and a few minutes of neighbourly gossip in passing.

    The Confession of Brother Haluin Peters, Ellis, 1913- 1988

  • From the forester's small assart among the trees it was possible to see the cleared grey of the track in broken glimpses between the old trunks, for the growth was close enough to keep the ground almost clear of underbrush.

    The Confession of Brother Haluin Peters, Ellis, 1913- 1988

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