Woodman Meaning
/ˈwʊdmən/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounSomeone who cuts down trees or cuts up, splits, and sells wood.
nounSomeone who lives in the wood and manages it; (by extension) someone who spends time in the woods and has a strong familiarity with that environment.
Sentence Examples
The woodman spent his entire day cutting down trees in the forest.
A woodman is a person who lives or works in the woods or forest.
The woodman cut down the dead tree in the forest.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ chopped down the large oak tree with a sharp axe.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In the past, a ____ was a person who lived and worked in the forest, cutting various wood for fuel today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English woodeman, wodeman, from Old English wudemann, wudumann (“woodman”), equivalent to wood + -man.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"As thro’ the shrilling Vale, or Mountain Ground,
The Labours of the Woodman’s Axe resound;
Blows following Blows are heard re-echoing wide,
While crackling Forests fall on ev’ry side.
Thus echo’d all the Fields with loud Alarms,
So fell the Warriors, and so rung their Arms."
— 1718, Alexander Pope, transl., The Iliad of Homer, London: Bernard Lintot, Book 16, p. 267:
"Woodman, spare that tree!
Touch not a single bough!
In youth it shelter’d me,
And I’ll protect it now.
’Twas my forefather’s hand
That placed it near his cot;
There, woodman, let it stand,
Thy axe shall harm it not!"
— 1843, George Pope Morris, “Woodman, Spare That Tree”, in The Deserted Bride; and Other Poems, New York: Appleton, page 39:
"Our walk was far among the ancient trees:
There was no road, nor any wood-man’s path,
But the thick umbrage, checking the wild growth
Of weed and sapling […]"
— 1800, William Wordsworth, “Poems on the Naming of Places V”, in Lyrical Ballads, with Other Poems, volume 2, London: Longman & Rees, page 195:
"“It is strange,” muttered Cardillac, “that so loud a roar in the forest at night should give such little indication of direction. I suppose a true woodman could not only point towards the spot, but might estimate the distance as well. I seem to be a very fool of the forest.”"
— 1908, Robert Barr, chapter 14, in Cardillac, 4th edition, New York: Grosset & Dunlap, published 1909:
"One afternoon, I went with Mrs. Salter-Townshend on a tour of all her rental properties, which ranged from a woodman’s cottage on the old Somerville estate to a tower in the harbor-front castle."
— 1990 July 15, Pamela Redmond Satran, “Ireland with kids: The fairy tale comes alive”, in Washington Post:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ chopped down the large oak tree with a sharp axe.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In the past, a ____ was a person who lived and worked in the forest, cutting various wood for fuel today.