(a) A wooded region, forested land, the woods; ?a wooded tract, forest preserve [quot. c1330]; also, the forest as a wild place; wilde woldes; (b) open country, a plain, meadow; also, grassy fields, grassland, pasturage; (c) a waste place, the desert; (d) high ground, the hills, highlands; also, a hill, down; (e) with diminished force, freq. in generalizing phrases: the world, the earth; on wold(es, over lond and ~, everywhere, up and down, far and wide.

(a) Used to designate specific hilly regions in England such as the Cotswolds, the Yorkshire Wolds, and the Weald; (b) in surnames; (c) in place names [see Smith PNElem. 2.239-42].