sward

Everyday

(literary, old) An area of short grass; a lawn or green field of turf. tree →

In the lessons

Found in poems and older stories describing the countryside: «a green sward». In The Wind in the Willows there are meadows and green banks by the river. In geography and farming, «sward» is used for the grass cover of a field.

Examples

• The children ran across the green sward. tree →
• Sheep grazed on the sward by the river. tree →
• They spread a picnic on the sward. tree →
• The castle stood above a smooth sward. tree →
• Daisies dotted the sward. tree →
• The farmer checked the sward before letting the cows out. tree →
• They flung themselves down on the sward, close to their underground home. tree →

Note

Literary; everyday words: grass, lawn, turf. Say «swawd», rhyming with «ward»; the w is spoken, unlike in «sword».