Karoo

or Kar·roo

[ kuh-roo ]

/ kəˈru /

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noun, plural ka·roos for 2.

a vast plateau in the Republic of South Africa, in Cape of Good Hope province. 100,000 square miles (260,000 square kilometers); 3000–4000 feet (900–1200 meters) above sea level.

(lowercase) an arid South African tableland with red clay soil.

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Origin of Karoo

First recorded in 1785–90; from Afrikaans kar(r)oo, from Khoikhoi; compare Xhaeruh, Phaeruh placename recorded in 1689, Nama garo “parched, dry, arid,” !garo-b “desolate waste”

Words nearby Karoo

Karnatak music, Kärnten, karo, Karol, Karoline, Karoo, karoro, karoshi, kaross, karpas, Kárpathos

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Karoo in a sentence

Adding to their spectral appearance were the long, withered grass-tufts and karoo bushes, white as if coated with hoar frost.
The Vee-Boers|Mayne Reid
On the Karoo, just crossed, wild animals were so scarce and shy, that with all the skill of their hunters the larder had run low.
The Vee-Boers|Mayne Reid
A man walking along the great wastes of the African karoo comes across a little stream.
Socialism|John Spargo
After a shower of rain, the Karoo in South Africa, for instance, is an extraordinarily beautiful country.
The Romance of Plant Life|G. F. Scott Elliot

Then the Karoo becomes unlovely, desolate, and barren-looking, with only its inconspicuous permanent plants visible.
The Romance of Plant Life|G. F. Scott Elliot

British Dictionary definitions for Karoo

Karoo

Karroo

/ (kəˈruː) /

noun plural -roos (often not capital)

any of several high arid plateaus in South Africa, esp the Central Karoo and the Little Karoo. The highveld, north of the Central Karoo, is sometimes called the Northern Karoo

a period or rock system in Southern Africa equivalent to the period or system extending from the Upper Carboniferous to the Lower Jurassic: divided into Lower and Upper Karoo

adjective

of, denoting, or formed in the Karoo period

Word Origin for Karoo

C18: from Afrikaans karo, probably from Khoikhoi garo desert

Collins 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 Karoo

karoo

A semiarid plateau. The most well-known karoos cover nearly 400,000 sq km (156,000 sq mi) of southern Africa. Karoos are terrace shaped and characterized by low scrub vegetation.