Definition of "defoliate" []

• To deprive (a plant, tree, or forest) of leaves. (verb-transitive)
• To cause the leaves of (a plant, tree, or forest) to fall off, especially by the use of chemicals. (verb-transitive)
• To lose foliage. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Six months ago, Gary hired a goateed designer to "defoliate" the office,  trucking out all the ficus trees and spanish moss to make room for curved sheets of fiberglass and, as he called it, "negative space.""
• "Six months ago, Gary hired a goateed designer to "defoliate" the office, trucking out all the ficus trees and spanish moss to make room for curved sheets of fiberglass and, as he called it, "negative space.""
• "It is naturally shrubby and over the winter the wiry framework will defoliate, but I will wait until March to shape it up with the shears."