chauder

A rare agricultural term meaning to spread lime on a field to fertilize or treat the soil — essentially an older variant of the far more common chauler, which is what modern agricultural French uses instead.

• Autrefois, on chaudait les champs acides avant les semailles. — In the past, acidic fields were limed before sowing.
• Ce vieux traité d'agriculture recommande de chauder la terre argileuse. — This old farming treatise recommends liming clay soil.
• Les paysans chaudaient leurs parcelles tous les quelques ans. — Farmers limed their plots every few years.

Don't confuse this rare form with chauffer (to heat) just because both start with chau- and loosely relate to 'chaud' (hot) — chauder has nothing to do with temperature; modern French almost always uses chauler for this liming sense instead.

Often confused with chauler.