Wort des Tages
18 February 2026
drunken trees
nounForst und Holz
(A stand of) trees displaced from their normal vertical alignment, especially due to thermokarst.
Warum dieses Wort
The name is descriptive rather than technical: as ice-rich ground thaws and slumps, root plates tip and whole stands lean at odd angles. Foresters read them as a symptom of the ground, not the timber.
In use
Whole block north of the creek is drunken trees now, so forget hauling through there until the ground firms up.
Written by our editors to show how the term is used, not a recorded quotation.