Autumn vocabulary

I’m looking out of my window enjoying the autumn colours outside and watching the squirrels who are busy in my garden! It seemed a good time to give you some autumn vocabulary and idioms!

​Vocabulary

Autumn/fall (noun)
This is approximately between September and November in the northern hemisphere, and March to May in the southern hemisphere. It’s called “autumn” in Britain and “fall” or “the fall” in the USA.

Crops
Vegetables, fruit and grains (like rice and wheat) which are grown for food

Harvest (noun)
1. the time of year when crops are collected
2. the activity of collecting the crops
3. the food which is collected 

Harvest (verb)
to collect the crops when they are ready

Mushrooms
A type of fungus with a round top and short stem. Some mushrooms can be eaten but some are poisonous. You can buy them in the supermarket or you can find them growing wild in the autumn. (See picture)

Acorn
The seed of an oak tree. (See picture)

Conker
A large brown seed from a horse chestnut tree. Children like playing with these. (See picture.)

Squirrel
A small, cute animal with a long fluffy tail. (See picture.) In autumn, you might see squirrels burying food for the cold winter months.

Hallowe’en (or Halloween)
The night of October 31st. People think about ghosts and witches, make lanterns out of pumpkins and dress up in costumes.

Bonfire
A large fire which is built outside, either for pleasure or to burn unwanted things such as garden rubbish and dead leaves. November 5th is Bonfire Night in the UK. You can read about it here.

Migrate (verb) / migration (noun)
Some birds migrate in the autumn. This means that they fly to a warmer country for the winter and then back again in the spring.

Leaf (singular) / leaves (plural)
Leaves are the green things that grow on trees. In the autumn, some leaves change from green to yellow, orange, red or brown.
For more irregular plurals, click here. 

Deciduous tree
This is a tree that looses its leaves in autumn and grows new ones in spring.

Evergreen tree
This is a tree that stays green all year round.

Fog (noun) / foggy (adjective)
This is when small drops of water make a cloud near the ground, making it difficult to see far ahead. (See picture.)

Wellington boots / wellingtons / wellies
These are waterproof boots made out of plastic or rubber.

Idioms

Squirrel away
This means to hide something away for later, often in a secret place, just like a squirrel hides food for the winter. You might squirrel away some coins so you always have change when you need it. Or you might squirrel away some snacks in your bedroom in case you get hungry in the night.

Autumn years
Your autumn years are the years near the end of your life, especially after you stop working, just like autumn is near the end of the year. It’s a nice way to say old!

Save it for a rainy day
This means to save something, usually money, for when you find yourself in a bad situation and really need it

It’s raining cats and dogs
This means it’s raining heavily. This isn’t really specific to autumn but we do get a lot of rain in autumn so it seems appropriate to include it here.

​
If you want to know how to improve your vocabulary and how to remember new words, get my e-book here:
​

English Vocabulary Challenge E-book