n. [ OE. harvest, hervest, AS. hærfest autumn; akin to LG. harfst, D. herfst, OHG. herbist, G. herbst, and prob. to L. carpere to pluck, Gr. karpo`s fruit. Cf. Carpet. ] 1. The gathering of a crop of any kind; the ingathering of the crops; also, the season of gathering grain and fruits, late summer or early autumn. [ 1913 Webster ]

Seedtime and harvest . . . shall not cease. Gen. viii. 22. [ 1913 Webster ]

At harvest, when corn is ripe. Tyndale. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which is reaped or ready to be reaped or gathered; a crop, as of grain (wheat, maize, etc.), or fruit. [ 1913 Webster ]

Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Joel iii. 13. [ 1913 Webster ]

To glean the broken ears after the man
That the main harvest reaps. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The product or result of any exertion or labor; gain; reward. [ 1913 Webster ]

The pope's principal harvest was in the jubilee. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

The harvest of a quiet eye. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

Harvest fish (Zool.), a marine fish of the Southern United States (Stromateus alepidotus); -- called whiting in Virginia. Also applied to the dollar fish. --
Harvest fly (Zool.), an hemipterous insect of the genus Cicada, often called locust. See Cicada. --
Harvest lord, the head reaper at a harvest. [ Obs. ] Tusser. --
Harvest mite (Zool.), a minute European mite (Leptus autumnalis), of a bright crimson color, which is troublesome by penetrating the skin of man and domestic animals; -- called also harvest louse, and harvest bug. --
Harvest moon, the moon near the full at the time of harvest in England, or about the autumnal equinox, when, by reason of the small angle that is made by the moon's orbit with the horizon, it rises nearly at the same hour for several days. --
Harvest mouse (Zool.), a very small European field mouse (Mus minutus). It builds a globular nest on the stems of wheat and other plants. --
Harvest queen, an image representing Ceres, formerly carried about on the last day of harvest. Milton. --
Harvest spider. (Zool.) See Daddy longlegs. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Harvested; p. pr. & vb. n. Harvesting. ] To reap or gather, as any crop. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who harvests; a machine for cutting and gathering grain; a reaper. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) A harvesting ant. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The gathering and bringing home of the harvest; the time of harvest. [ 1913 Webster ]

Showed like a stubble land at harvest-home. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The song sung by reapers at the feast made at the close of the harvest; the feast itself. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A service of thanksgiving, at harvest time, in the Church of England and in the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The opportunity of gathering treasure. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. & n., from Harvest, v. t. [ 1913 Webster ]

Harvesting ant (Zool.), any species of ant which gathers and stores up seeds for food. Many species are known. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The species found in Southern Europe and Palestine are Aphenogaster structor and Aphenogaster barbara; that of Texas, called agricultural ant, is Pogonomyrmex barbatus or Myrmica molifaciens; that of Florida is Pogonomyrmex crudelis. See Agricultural ant, under Agricultural. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Without harvest; lacking in crops; barren. “Harvestless autumns.” Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An erect perennial Old World herb (Agrimonia eupatoria) of dry grassy habitats.
Syn. -- Agrimonia eupatoria. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n.; pl. Harvestmen 1. A man engaged in harvesting. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) See Daddy longlegs, 1. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of harvesting; also, that which is harvested. Swinburne. [ 1913 Webster ]