[f. BROWSE v.]
1. The action of feeding upon young shoots and leaves of trees and shrubs; also concr. shoots and leaves; browsing-ground.
1580. Baret, Alv., B 1401. A gathering together of leaues for beasts in winter; a browsing.
c. 1645. Howell, Lett. (1650), II. 8. The park … for groves, and browsings for the deer … may compare with any.
1859. Jephson, Brittany, ix. 144. Heather and gorse, kept short by the browsing of the goats.
2. Comb., as browsing-line.
1805. Repton, Landsc. Gard., 51. Stripped of their foliage to a certain height … which I shall call the browsing line.
1828. Steuart, Planter’s G., 309. The browsing-line of the black-faced sheep seldom reaches to more than three, or three feet and a half above the surface.
