crop spraying

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   The practice of spraying chemicals onto growing plants, usually to kill pests, weeds, or disease.

   Grammar: Uncountable: talk about 'crop spraying' in general, not 'a crop spraying'.

   Patterns

   • crop spraying on something
   • aerial crop spraying
   • crop spraying equipment

   Modern crop spraying is carefully controlled to reduce harm to bees.

   The farm uses drones for crop spraying on steep hillsides.

   Residents complained about crop spraying near the school.

2. 2nouncountable

   An instance or session of spraying a field or crop with chemicals.

   Grammar: Countable when you mean one specific operation: 'three sprayings this season'.

   Patterns

   • a crop spraying
   • carry out a crop spraying

   They scheduled a crop spraying for early morning, before the wind picked up.

   Each crop spraying must be logged by the farmer.

Common combinations

aerial crop spraying

Aerial crop spraying covers large fields quickly but worries nearby residents.

crop spraying equipment

The workers cleaned the crop spraying equipment after use.

ban crop spraying

Some towns have voted to ban crop spraying within 100 meters of homes.

crop spraying near something

There are strict rules about crop spraying near rivers.

organic crop spraying

Organic crop spraying relies on natural substances rather than synthetic ones.

Synonyms and how they differ

spraying

A shorter, more general word; use it when the context already makes clear that crops are involved.

application

A formal, technical term for putting a product onto a field; common in farming reports.

Word family

spray verb

to send liquid out in tiny drops

sprayer noun

a machine or person that sprays

crop noun

a plant grown in large amounts for food or profit

Commonly confused: crop spraying or crop dusting? crop spraying or crop rotation?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “crop spraying”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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