Definition of "wold"
wold1
noun
plural wolds
(archaic, regional) An unforested or deforested plain, a grassland, a moor.
Quotations
Saint Withold footed thrice the ’old;He met the nightmare, and her nine fold;
c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene iv]
[…]—I came with my cousin, Frank Osbaldistone, there, and I must shew him the way back again to the Hall, or he’ll lose himself in the wolds.
1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter VIII, in Rob Roy. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, page 180
And therefore did he take a trusty bandTo traverse Acarnania forest wide,In war well-seasoned, and with labours tanned,Till he did greet white Achelous’ tide,And from his farther bank Ætolia’s wolds espied.
1812–1818, Lord Byron, “(please specify |canto=I to IV)”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. A Romaunt, London: Printed for John Murray, […]; William Blackwood, Edinburgh; and John Cumming, Dublin; by Thomas Davison, […], stanza 69
wold2
adjective
comparative wolder, superlative woldest
(archaic, dialect, West Country, Dorset, Devon) Old.
Quotations