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

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

From Washington Post • Oct. 18, 2017

The dart hit Foxtrot 2’s location, about 22 miles northeast of tiny Augusta, Mont., sometimes called the “last original cow town in the West.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 12, 2017

Now, up around that old cow town, Abilene, Kansas, it's a common sight to see the cornfields stretch out like an ocean.

From The Log of a Cowboy A Narrative of the Old Trail Days by Adams, Andy