DCHP-1 Online
clearing 
1a n. Hist. a farm on cleared land in the bush.
See also: bush clearing
- 1822 (1960) [The constable's] little clearing was not in good order; and one day when he was from home, serving an ejectment, Mr. Bullock's oxen came along, and . . . took peaceable possession of his grain.
- 1852 An emigrant, intending to farm and having some means at his command, will find it advisable to rent a "clearing" for some time before purchasing.
- 1926 The gentlemen's topics were:--crops and clearings, lumber, price of wheat, road mending, deer shooting, logburning, etc.
1b n. a settlement, village or town in the bush.
- 1855 The Times of little London announces that the citizens of that thriving village have it in contemplation to apply to Parliament for a less ambitious, and mock heroic name for the clearing.
- 1916 Carman was born in a clearing in eastern Ontario.
2 n. a stretch of bush land devoid of trees for some natural reason.
- 1902 . . . in the heart of the same deep-wooded wilderness, stood a long, low-roofed log cabin, on the edge of a narrow clearing.
- 1948 Most of the time while hunting a moose, he will hear or smell you before you see him, and then he is away like a streak, crashing through bush and undergrowth unless he happens to cross a small lake or clearing.
- 1956 Hal poled close to the bank, which hid him from anyone who might be in the clearing.
- 1822 (1960) [The constable's] little clearing was not in good order; and one day when he was from home, serving an ejectment, Mr. Bullock's oxen came along, and . . . took peaceable possession of his grain.