prairie
Americannoun
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an extensive, level or slightly undulating, mostly treeless tract of land in the Mississippi valley, characterized by a highly fertile soil and originally covered with coarse grasses, and merging into drier plateaus in the west.
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a tract of grassland; meadow.
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(in Florida) a low, sandy tract of grassland often covered with water.
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Southern U.S. wet grassland; marsh.
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(initial capital letter) a steam locomotive having a two-wheeled front truck, six driving wheels, and a two-wheeled rear truck.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of prairie
1675–85; < French: meadow < Vulgar Latin *prātāria, equivalent to Latin prāt ( um ) meadow + -āria, feminine of -ārius -ary
Explanation
A prairie is a plain of grassy land without many trees. If you're raising cattle, find some prairie land to let them roam around on. Prairie means grassland, and comes from the French word for "meadow." While we might describe a single meadow, we usually use prairie to describe a type of countryside. In the United States, the natural state of the land between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains is prairie, which is why there's so much farming there.
Vocabulary lists containing prairie
Physical Geography - Introductory
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Physical Geography - Middle School
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The United States
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Then, in February 1993, a Vietnam veteran named Robert William Hardee was arrested in Grand Prairie, a Dallas suburb that borders Arlington.
From Slate • Apr. 6, 2026
“Modern Prairie unequivocally condemns abuse in all forms and remains committed to values of safety, integrity, and respect.” the statement said.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 27, 2026
Eli Frankel, by contrast, reaches what he argues is a definite conclusion in “Sisters in Death: The Black Dahlia, the Prairie Heiress, and Their Hunter.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026
The Eden Prairie, Minn.-based company’s share price is up about 28% this year and on Sept. 19 hit an all-time high of $138.
From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 30, 2025
Among them was the family of Laura Ingalls Wilder, who later wrote Little House on the Prairie based on her experiences.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
