Definition of: harvest

(här′vist) noun
1. A crop, as of grain, gathered or ready for gathering.
2. The time of gathering.
3. The product of any toil or effort.
—v.t. & v.i.
1. To gather (a crop).
2. To gather the crop of (a field, etc.). [OE hærfest autumn, harvest] Synonyms (noun): crop, fruit, growth, harvesting, harvest time, increase, ingathering, proceeds, produce, product, reaping, result, return, yield. Harvest is the generic word; crop is the common and commercial expression; we say a man sells his crop, but we should not speak of his selling his harvest; we speak of an ample or abundant harvest, a good crop. Harvest is applied almost wholly to grain; crop applies to almost anything that is gathered in; we speak of the potato crop, not the potato harvest; we may say either the wheat crop or the wheat harvest. We speak of produce collectively, but of a product or various products; vegetables, fruits, eggs, butter, etc., may be termed farm produce, or the products of the farm. Product is a word of wider application than produce; we speak of the products of manufacturing, the product obtained by multiplying one number by another, etc. The word proceeds is chiefly used of the return from an investment; we speak of the produce of a farm, but of the proceeds of the money invested in farming. The yield is what the land gives up to the farmer's demand, as the yield of corn or oats. Harvest has also a figurative use; as, The result of lax enforcement of law is a harvest of crime. See INCREASE, PRODUCT.