Forest versus woods

[Ouisch]

A clump of trees out in the wilderness is sometimes interchangably referred to either as a "forest" or "the woods."  Is there any particular difference between the two? 

[flaming]

My mind picture is that a forest is a vast area of trees, many acres, like those big tracts the Forest Conservancy (if they still exist) looks after.  Places like Sherwood or Epping Forests.    A wood is a smaller number  of trees ranging from say quarter of a mile to a mile, to go by on the road, and is probably not very deep, before you emerge into clearings or fields, or another road.  'The woods' ior 'the wood'  are terms we  employ when we loosely describe lots of trees, larger than a clump of trees but smaller than a forest.  A forest is always much more than a wood and denotes more of a wilderness generally.  'Forest 'can describe the sort of tree-covered wildernesses we have left, which often are all-conifer forests planted in modern times.  The word can also be applied to what we often call 'the jungle' in other countries, e.g.  the Amazon forest. 

A wood might be in mixed farmland amongst some fields, a tract of mixed types of trees.  A copse is a small wood of coppiced trees, i.e. ones cut purposely for their wood, with other parts left to grow.  I think a country person could elaborate more on that.

'Thicket' is another word used in some areas of UK, denoting shrubs and trees forming a dense cover over a wide area, not a specific size, but more of a local word/description.

A clump of trees can be any number of trees, 3/4 or 20 trees clumped together at, say, the edge of a field.

[IndieSinger]

The relevent definition of forest is given, in the Oxford English Dictionary, as "An extensive tract of land covered with trees and undergrowth, sometimes intermingled with pasture. Also, the trees collectively of a �forest�."

The relevent definition of a wood is given as, "A collection of trees growing more or less thickly together (esp. naturally, as distinguished from a plantation), of considerable extent, usually larger than a grove or copse (but including these), and smaller than a forest; a piece of ground covered with trees, with or without undergrowth."

[jno]

I guess IndieSinger's definitions are correct, but I wonder if 'the woods' doesn't mean something more like 'the forest'. It looks as if it's just the plural of 'wood', but it isn't really - 'the woods' doesn't mean a lot of little individual woods, it means one quite extensive one. My dictionary is no help on this though.

[Grunty]

According to the Oxford dictionary, the word forest has three meanings.  A large area covered mainly by trees (i.e. larger than a wood), an area which was a forest but is now cultivated, e.g. Sherwood Forest and an area usually owned by the Sovereign, which is kept for hunting and which is subject to Forest Law.  Forest Law was separate from the laws that governed the rest of the country and is worth a study in itself.  An example of a forest without trees is the Clun Forest in Shropshire.

[Peter Pedant]

A forest is a big wood, Ouisch

[Ouisch]

PeterPendant,

So, for example, in the song "Over the river and through the woods, to grandmother's house we go..."  they're referring to a small wooded area?  And a forest would cover a larger area?

[Jackanory]

We look out over a vast area of trees belonging to the Duchy of Lancaster and which forms part of the National Forest.

However, we always say "Let's go for a walk in the woods" not ". . .in the forest".  Perhaps it's a colloquial thing.