clearcut
clearcut Lexical Profile
clearcut Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Sharply defined; easy to perceive, understand, or interpret without ambiguity.
"The committee failed to reach a clearcut decision regarding the proposed budget changes."
Having a sharp, distinct outline or profile; formed with clean, precise edges.
"The mountain range stood in clearcut silhouette against the evening sky."
• verb
To cut down and remove every tree from (a forested area).
"The timber company plans to clearcut the hillside and replant it with fast-growing pine seedlings."
• noun
A logging operation in which all or almost all trees in a designated area of forest are uniformly cut down, or a tract of land that has been cleared in this way.
"Wildflowers and young shrubs quickly began to colonize the sunny floor of the recent clearcut."
Word Nuance & Usage
As an adjective meaning "definite" or "unambiguous," this word is most commonly hyphenated as "clear-cut," whereas the forestry verb and noun referring to the complete removal of trees are frequently written as the solid compound "clearcut."