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temperate rainforest
noun
variants
or less commonly temperate rain forest
plural temperate rainforests also temperate rain forests
: woodland of a usually rather mild climatic area within the temperate zone that receives heavy rainfall, usually includes numerous kinds of trees, and is distinguished from a tropical rainforest especially by the presence of a dominant tree
Examples of temperate rainforest in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
This would no longer be an unsuccessful timber plantation in an island nation too small to process wood at scale, but a temperate rainforest of varied heights, textures, sounds, and smells, from fragrant honeysuckle to the stinkhorn fungus.
—Christine Ro, Forbes, 12 Dec. 2024
Yakushima Island, located 37 miles south from the southern tip of Kyushu Island, is home to a primeval temperate rainforest with thousand-year-old cedar trees, known as yakusugi.
—Anna Mazurek, AFAR Media, 16 Dec. 2024
The rainforest work has been funded by insurance company Aviva as part of a £38 million donation to restore temperate rainforests across the British Isles.
—Christine Ro, Forbes, 12 Dec. 2024
While the cameras were rolling, Anderson taught the climbers about the importance of temperate rainforests (Tongass National Forest is the world’s largest at nearly 17 million acres) and took them salmon fishing.
—Jayme Moye, Outside Online, 8 Nov. 2024
The works submitted this year addressed issues such as disappearing wetlands in Iran, the loss of temperate rainforests in the UK, drought in Bolivia and Myanmar, shrinking mangroves in Vietnam, and threats to indigenous communities in Ecuador.
—Caterina De Biasio, Vogue, 4 Dec. 2024
So instead, Caldwell, Honnold, and the eight-person National Geographic film crew had to chart a new route in the adjacent valley—an old-growth temperate rainforest.
—Jayme Moye, Outside Online, 8 Nov. 2024
The areas surrounding Asheville are temperate rainforests, full of streams and rivers that run alongside human communities.
—Benji Jones, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
The presence of the tree fossils suggests the island was once home to a temperate rainforest — a dramatically different ecosystem from the islands’ current environment, Thomas and her collaborators reported earlier this month in the journal Antarctic Science.
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 27 Sep. 2024
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Word History
First Known Use
1903, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of temperate rainforest was
in 1903
Dictionary Entries Near temperate rainforest
Cite this Entry
“Temperate rainforest.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/temperate%20rainforest. Accessed 9 Jan. 2025.
Kids Definition
temperate rain forest
noun
: woodland that has a temperate climate with heavy rainfall and that usually includes numerous kinds of trees but differs from a tropical rain forest in having one or two very common major trees
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