Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The dried stalks and leaves of a cereal crop, used as fodder after the grain has been harvested.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Fodder and provision of all sorts for cattle.
  • To bristle up; stiffen.
  • noun In American agriculture, the stalks of Indian corn collectively, after removal of the ears but including the leaves, used as fodder.

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

  • noun Fodder for cattle, especially straw or coarse hay.

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

  • noun Fodder for cattle, especially straw or coarse hay.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the dried stalks and leaves of a field crop (especially corn) used as animal fodder after the grain has been harvested

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, provisions, from Norman French estovers, from Old French estovier, to be necessary, from Latin est opus, it is necessary : est, third person sing. present tense of esse, to be; see essence + opus, need, work; see opus.]

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Examples

Comments

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  • "Even second generation biofuels, made from crop wastes or wood, are an environmental disaster, either extending the cultivated area or removing the straw and stovers which protect the soil from erosion and keep carbon and nutrients in the ground."

    - George Monbiot, Hunger Games, monbiot.com, 13 August 2012.

    August 14, 2012

  • The cows feast on green grass and clover

    Till seasons of fresh growth are over,

    Then autumn fields shorn

    To dry stalks of corn

    Will make up their wintering stover.

    September 15, 2016