forest dweller

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A person or community that lives in a forest and often depends on it for food, shelter and income.

   Grammar: Countable: a forest dweller, many forest dwellers.

   Patterns

   • forest dwellers in a region

   The new road threatens the homes of forest dwellers in the region.

   Many forest dwellers gather honey and fruit from the trees.

   The charity helps forest dwellers protect their land.

2. 2nouncountablebiology

   An animal or plant that naturally lives in woodland rather than open country.

   Grammar: Countable, and often used in nature writing about wildlife.

   The pine marten is a shy forest dweller.

   Owls and woodpeckers are typical forest dwellers.

   Many forest dwellers lose their habitat when trees are cut down.

Word forms

Common combinations

indigenous forest dwellers

Indigenous forest dwellers manage large areas of woodland.

shy forest dweller

The deer is a shy forest dweller.

protect forest dwellers

The law aims to protect forest dwellers.

rights of forest dwellers

The rights of forest dwellers are debated in parliament.

tribal forest dwellers

Tribal forest dwellers rely on local plants for medicine.

Synonyms and how they differ

woodlander

Woodlander is rarer and more literary, and it is used mainly for people.

forester

Forester usually means someone who manages or works in a forest, not necessarily someone who lives there.

woodland creature

Woodland creature refers only to animals and sounds more like a children's story.

Opposites

Word family

forest noun

a large area covered with trees

dweller noun

someone who lives in a place

dwell verb

to live in a place

deforestation noun

the clearing of forests

Commonly confused: forest dweller or forester?

Practice

Make it your own

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

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