# deforestation

/dɪˌfɔɹɪˈsteɪʃən/ (US) · /dɪfˌɒɹɪstˈeɪʃən/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/deforestation
Updated: 2026-08-08

## Senses

### 1. clearing of forests

noun · CEFR B2

the act of cutting down or burning all the trees in an area, often to use the land for farming or cattle.

For teachers: the permanent removal of trees to make land available for other uses, such as agriculture, ranching, or urban sprawl. Uncountable in its general sense; countable when referring to specific instances or regions.

- Deforestation in the Amazon is a major cause of climate change.
- Environmental scientists argue that rapid deforestation leads to significant biodiversity loss and disrupts local water cycles.

### 2. computing optimization

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

a way to make computer programs run faster by removing extra steps that the computer does not need.

For teachers: a program transformation technique that eliminates intermediate data structures to improve computational efficiency. Also known as fusion.

- The developer used deforestation to make the code run more efficiently.
- In functional programming, deforestation is a compiler optimization that fuses functions together to avoid the overhead of creating temporary lists.

## Examples

- Deforestation is a major cause of habitat loss for many animals.
- The government introduced new laws to slow down deforestation in the tropical rainforest.
- Environmental scientists argue that large-scale deforestation contributes significantly to global warming by reducing the planet's capacity to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.