coupe sombre

== French == === Etymology === From woodcutting; the idea being that the forest is still dense and dark, because it was only lightly felled. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /kup sɔ̃bʁ/ === Noun === coupe sombre f (plural coupes sombres) (forestry) light felling, thinning of the trees (sometimes proscribed, figuratively, chiefly in the plural) drastic cuts faire des coupes sombres dans quelque chose ― to make drastic cuts, to make swingeing cuts, to make substantial cutbacks ==== Usage notes ==== This idiom is often misunderstood to mean "heavy felling" (for which coupe claire would be the right term), whence the figurative sense. ==== See also ==== coupe rase, coupe à blanc