Phrase guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
adj
Alternative spelling of scorched-earth.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of, alternative
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Land that has been abandoned, in the face of an advancing enemy, after the destruction of all resources on it.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Topics: government, military, politics, war
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
The strategy of destroying all resources in an area of land in order to deny their use to an advancing enemy.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Topics: government, military, politics, war
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Calque from Chinese 焦土 (jiāotǔ, “scorched earth; ravages of war”), originally in reference to the strategy adopted by the Chinese government in the Second Sino-Japanese War. First attested in 1937 as an idiom.
Across languages
19 source translations are retained for this English entry.
