cow town

American  

noun

1. a small town, especially one in a cattle-raising district in the western U.S. or Canada.

2. a town or city, especially in the western U.S. or Canada, from which cattle are shipped to market.

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Etymology

Origin of cow town

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

The family moved from Arizona to Germany to England before settling in Davenport, a tiny cow town in eastern Washington.

From Science Magazine • Jul. 20, 2022

While Green Bay was fawning and bowing to the demands of a diva, the Broncos got a quarterback capable of changing everything for the long-suffering football team in our dusty old cow town.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 8, 2022

Bat Masterson and a land agent make a Kansas cow town safe for wheat farmers.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 5, 2021

Even with all this change, Oklahoma’s capital sticks to its guns as a cow town.

From Washington Post • Oct. 18, 2017

They went for perhaps two miles through the hills to a hamlet along a branch line railroad which had served as the cow town for the picture’s locale.

From Janet Hardy in Radio City by Wheeler, Ruthe S.