agricultural, a.
(ægrɪˈkʌltjʊərəl)
[f. L. agricultūra (see agriculture) + -al1. Cf. natural, L. nātūrālis.]
a. Of or pertaining to agriculture; connected with husbandry or tillage of the ground.
| 1776 Adam Smith W.N. (1869) II. iv. ix. 246 The agricultural systems of political economy will not require so long an explanation. 1814 Sir H. Davy (title) Agricultural Chemistry. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 413 Four shillings a week therefore were..fair agricultural wages. 1849 Alison Hist. Europe I. ii. §4. 121 The agricultural population, at both periods, was double the manufacturing. |
b. slang. Applied to a clumsy stroke in cricket.
| 1937 Partridge Dict. Slang 186/1 (s.v. cow-shot), A more clumsy shot, made by a standing batsman, is termed an agricultural one. 1955 Times 25 July 3/4 Keith..took an agricultural swing at Wardle and was bowled. |
c. agricultural ant: a species of ant, such as the Pogonomyrmex barbatus of Texas, that clears the vicinity of its nest of verdure or herbage except for that on which it feeds.
| 1868 Amer. Naturalist II. 157 Such structures are remarkable..reminding us of the intelligence shown by the Agricultural Ant of Texas. 1882 [see harvesting ppl. a.]. |