Copse

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kÉ’ps/ UK
• Rhymes: -É’ps
• Homophones: cops

Origin

1578, from coppice, by contraction, originally meaning “small wood grown for purposes of periodic cutting”.

Full definition of copse

Noun

1. A thicket of small trees or shrubs.
• 1798, William Wordsworth, Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey, lines 9–15 (for syntax):The day is come when I again reposeHere, under this dark sycamore, and viewThese plots of cottage-ground, these orchard tufts,Which at this season, with their unripe fruits,Are clad in one green hue, and lose themselves’Mid groves and copses.
• 1919, Ronald Firbank, Valmouth, Duckworth (hardback edition), p19:Striking the highway beyond the little copse she skirted the dark iron palings enclosing Hare.

Synonyms

• coppice

Verb

1. (transitive, horticulture) To trim or cut.
2. (transitive, horticulture) To plant and preserve.

Anagrams

• copes, scope