Forage
/ˈfɔːrɪdʒ/
verbnounB2
Definition
Forage is the action of searching for food, especially in the wild or natural places. Animals often forage by looking for plants, seeds, or small animals to eat. People can also forage when they collect wild fruits, mushrooms, or other natural food. As a noun, forage means the food found or collected this way.
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See It in Action
Verb: To search widely for food or provisions, especially in the wild
- •The deer forage for grass and leaves in the forest.
- •During the winter, bears forage less because food is scarce.
- •People used to forage for mushrooms and berries in the countryside.
Noun: Food, especially plants or hay, collected for animals to eat
- •The farmer stored hay as forage for the cattle during winter.
- •Horses need good quality forage to stay healthy.
Make It Stick
- ✓Think of 'forage' like 'look for food,' but in nature and often without a store or kitchen nearby
- ✓Picture a squirrel running around the forest floor, picking up nuts and berries to eat or store
- ✓It's the feeling of being curious and active when you search outside for something to eat, like a treasure hunt for food
- ✓Sounds like 'FOR-age' → imagine someone going on a 'food voyage' in the forest to find meals
- ✓Imagine stories of wild animals or people in old times gathering food from the land to survive
- ✓NOT like 'eat' (which means to consume food), 'forage' means to find or search for the food first
- ✓NOT like 'hunt' (which usually means chasing animals), 'forage' often means gathering plants or small food items
- ✓NOT like 'shop' (buy food in a store), 'forage' is about searching in natural places without money
Try Other Words
- •Gather: to collect food or items (Use when emphasizing collecting rather than just searching)
- •Hunt: to chase animals for food (Use when the food is animals and the action is chasing or catching)
- •Scavenge: to search for leftover food or waste (Use when searching for food others have left behind)
- •Collect: to bring together items (Use in general contexts, less about wild food)
Unboxing
- •Word parts: No clear prefix or suffix; root word 'forage' comes from a single root
- •Etymology: From Old French 'forrage,' meaning fodder or food for animals, from Latin 'foragium' meaning forage or fodder
- •Historical development: Originally meant food for animals, later extended to the action of searching for food in the wild
- •Modern usage: Used for both animals and humans when talking about searching or collecting natural food sources
Reflect & Connect
•How does the idea of foraging change when you think about animals versus humans?
•Can modern people still forage today? What kinds of food can they find in nature?
Fill in the blanks
1.Animals often forage ___ forests or fields when food is not easy to find.
2.People who forage for wild berries need to know which ones ___ safe to eat.
3.Unlike hunting, foraging usually means searching for plants or small food items, not ___ animals.
4.The farmer prepared extra forage ___ the winter when fresh grass is not available.
5.When bears forage less in winter, it means they ___ less food because of cold weather.
6.Foraging requires time and patience because you must ___ food before eating it.
7.In some cultures, foraging is a traditional way to ___ food from nature.