as in grove
a thick patch of shrubbery, small trees, or underbrush
a small copse of trees shaded the back of the house
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of copse
The path climbs past copses of mountain hemlocks and red firs, and through alpine meadows dotted with wildflowers in the spring and summer.
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Eric Rosen, Travel + Leisure, 10 Apr. 2023
Smoke envelops a Russian bunker hit by the Ukrainians; the Buhay, hiding near a copse, is somehow spared from bombardment by enemy forces.
—Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2023
NJ Agwuna’s lively direction fit neatly into Peter J. Davison’s festival unit set—a copse of tree trunks at stage right, an array of colored lightbulbs above—and Christelle Matou’s handsome, sculptural costumes made a clear visual statement.
—Heidi Waleson, WSJ, 18 Aug. 2021
The hulking mass of the Hagia Sophia, the sixth-century church that became the enduring symbol of Christendom, seemed like a basilica to me again, surrounded by a copse of slim, tapered minarets.
—New York Times, 12 May 2022
See all Example Sentences for copse 
Eric Rosen, Travel + Leisure, 10 Apr. 2023
Smoke envelops a Russian bunker hit by the Ukrainians; the Buhay, hiding near a copse, is somehow spared from bombardment by enemy forces.
—Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2023
NJ Agwuna’s lively direction fit neatly into Peter J. Davison’s festival unit set—a copse of tree trunks at stage right, an array of colored lightbulbs above—and Christelle Matou’s handsome, sculptural costumes made a clear visual statement.
—Heidi Waleson, WSJ, 18 Aug. 2021
The hulking mass of the Hagia Sophia, the sixth-century church that became the enduring symbol of Christendom, seemed like a basilica to me again, surrounded by a copse of slim, tapered minarets.
—New York Times, 12 May 2022
See all Example Sentences for copse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for copse
Noun
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Woodlots offered concealment from surveillance and attack, and the dirt surrounding this grove was scuffed by foot trails, suggesting Russian arrivals by night.C.J. Chivers Robert Fass Krish Seenivasan Steven Szczesniak, New York Times, 31 Dec. 2024
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California’s agricultural heartlands are often eclipsed by their snazzier coastal counterparts, but pause to consider a trip to the Central Valley, home to some of America’s finest farmland—and in particular, almond groves.Mark Ellwood, AFAR Media, 23 Dec. 2024
Noun
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There is a primordial quality to the woods that oscillates between cacophonous forest chatter and eerie silence in the space of a ridge or two.Laura Lancaster, Outdoor Life, 2 Jan. 2025
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One of them, on July 12, is a daylong retreat in the forest in Topanga.Deborah Vankin, Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The two most straightforward of the trials will involve large-scale planting of trees and bioenergy crops, including Miscanthus grasses and coppice willow, reports Robert Lea for AZoCleanTech.Alex Fox, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 May 2021
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Another strategy, called short rotation coppice, involves planting fast-growing trees such as willows and poplars in extremely dense rows.Eric Toensmeier, Scientific American, 1 Aug. 2020
Noun
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Traveling there is like flooring it through a thicket of life-threatening risks: Jets, drones and artillery can quickly annihilate an armored vehicle.Gaëlle Girbes, New York Times, 28 Dec. 2024
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Any new leadership will inherit not just a broken state but also a thicket of challenges that defy simple solutions.Karam Shaar, Foreign Affairs, 20 Dec. 2024
Noun
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During one expedition to what was once London, a young scientist, out gathering brushwood, unearths a small vacuum flask, inside which is a handwritten account of life in a small village called Beadle during the days leading up to the lunar catastrophe.Michael Dirda, Washington Post, 2 Feb. 2023
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Bare dunes were planted with ‘brushwood and windbreaks, perpendicular to wind direction’ so that the dunes do not interfere with the canal system and irrigated farmlands.Azera Parveen Rahman, Quartz, 27 Oct. 2022
Noun
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The forecast called for an all-out windstorm by midday over chaparral that hadn’t seen rain for eight months.Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2025
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But in this part of the semi-arid chaparral called Los Angeles, fire season can now be any time.Zoë Schlanger, The Atlantic, 8 Jan. 2025
Noun
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In the Key of Ursa Minor Matthew Tierney Three fake plastic bushes per sill in the mall promenade.Max Ufberg, hazlitt.net, 10 Jan. 2025
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They will be buried together in their garden at home, among the kumquat tree and blueberry bushes, the white azaleas and roses, and the pollinator plants.Emily Cochrane, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Therapy can help kids put the brakes on the internal thoughts that lead to avoidance, plus teach them to communicate in healthier ways.Christin Perry, Parents, 6 Jan. 2025
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This could tap the brakes on some aspects of the initiative while complicating American technology flow to India in areas, like AI, where his team is focused on enhancing U.S. competitive strengths, not co-innovation with foreign partners.Evan A. Feigenbaum, Forbes, 5 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near copse
Cite this Entry
“Copse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/copse. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
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