# harvest

/ˈhɑɹvəst/ (US) · /hˈɑːvɪst/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/harvest
Updated: 2026-08-15

## Senses

### 1. gathering crops

noun · CEFR B1

the time of year when grain, fruit, or vegetables are ready to be cut and brought in from the fields.

For teachers: the process or season of gathering ripened crops from the field.

- The farmers worked late into the night to finish the wheat harvest before the rain started.
- The community traditionally celebrates the end of the harvest with a festival, marking the successful collection of the year's primary food supply.

Usage: often used with 'the' to refer to the specific season

### 2. the crop yield

noun · CEFR B1

the total amount of crops that are gathered.

For teachers: the quantity of a crop that is harvested; the yield.

- After a very dry summer, the grape harvest was much smaller than usual.
- Agricultural experts predicted a record-breaking corn harvest due to the ideal combination of early spring rains and a warm summer.

Usage: can be countable or uncountable

### 3. result or reward

noun · CEFR C1 · Literary

the result or reward of your hard work or actions.

For teachers: the product or consequence of any exertion or course of action.

- After years of studying, she finally reaped the harvest of her hard work.
- The diplomat warned that the current aggressive policies would eventually yield a bitter harvest of resentment and international isolation.

Usage: often used in a metaphorical sense

### 4. to collect crops

verb · CEFR B1

to cut and collect a crop when it is ready.

For teachers: to gather a crop as a harvest; to reap.

- They usually harvest the apples in late September.
- Modern machinery allows large-scale farms to harvest hundreds of acres of grain in a fraction of the time it once took by hand.

Usage: takes a direct object

### 5. to collect organs or data

verb · CEFR C1 · Technical

to collect something useful, like information or body organs, to use them later.

For teachers: to remove or extract biological tissue or data for transplantation or analysis.

- The company was criticized for trying to harvest personal data from its users.
- The surgical team worked quickly to harvest the donor organs so they could be transported to the waiting recipients.

Usage: commonly used in medical or computing contexts

## Examples

- The farmers are busy gathering the wheat harvest.
- After a long summer of rain, the local vineyards celebrated a record-breaking grape harvest this October.
- The community relied heavily on a successful autumn harvest to ensure they had sufficient grain stores to survive the harsh winter months ahead.

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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.