prairie
a tract of grassland; meadow.
(in Florida) a low, sandy tract of grassland often covered with water.
Southern U.S. wet grassland; marsh.
(initial capital letter) a steam locomotive having a two-wheeled front truck, six driving wheels, and a two-wheeled rear truck.
Origin of prairie
1Other words from prairie
- prai·rie·like, adjective
Words Nearby prairie
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use prairie in a sentence
These underwater prairies also support near-shore and offshore fisheries, and protect coastlines as well as other marine habitats.
How planting 70 million eelgrass seeds led to an ecosystem’s rapid recovery | Joseph Polidoro | October 14, 2020 | Science NewsThe journey took them through Ohio to Illinois, across the prairie, then south toward the deserts.
That has put prairies in danger, as people have plowed under many grasslands to grow crops.
There, prairies stretch from the area east of the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River.
Usually, when scientists talk about prairies, they are referring to the grasslands in North America.
He stands, one assumes on a porch, which overlooks a prairie.
Huckabee 2016: Bend Over and Take It Like a Prisoner! | Olivia Nuzzi | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTOne year later and 10 blocks away, my mother came into the world, the granddaughter of those pioneers who had roamed the prairie.
There, abandoned “ghost towns” populate the prairie fields and deserts, serving as a reminder of a not-so-distant past.
Harvey now lives in the central prairie province of Saskatchewan, Canadian news reports say, along with her husband and son.
Canada’s Newest Refugee: A Florida Mom Convicted of Unlawful Sex With a Minor | Tim Mak | June 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBecause there is always this about the land, about prairie and pond and mountain: they never go away.
This, thought I, is a dismal-looking outcome—two men and a dead horse left high and dry on the sun-flooded prairie.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairNot while I had the open prairie underfoot and the summer sky above, and hands to strike a blow or pull a trigger.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. Sinclair"We'll be blamed lucky if we don't run into a prairie-fire before mornin'," Piegan grumbled.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairOne company also has irrigation works, and ready-made farms for settlers in the prairie provinces.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland | Joseph TatlowThe sergeant went out, and when the beat of hoofs sank into the silence of the prairie, Winston called Courthorne in.
Winston of the Prairie | Harold Bindloss
British Dictionary definitions for prairie
/ (ˈprɛərɪ) /
Origin of prairie
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for prairie
[ prâr′ē ]
An extensive area of flat or rolling grassland, especially the large plain of central North America.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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