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• Karoo
  Karoo

  noun

  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.
• 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.

Karoo

American  

[kuh-roo] / kəˈru /

Or Karroo

noun

• karoos
  plural

1. 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.

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

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Karoo British  

/ kəˈruː /

noun

1. 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

2. 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

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adjective

1. of, denoting, or formed in the Karoo period

karoo Scientific  

/ kə-ro̅o̅′ /

1. 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.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• karoos
  plural

Etymology

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”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Karoo karoo karoos

The Karoo Basin, once contiguous with Antarctica—and later underwater and now semi-arid—was a verdant home for what the show says were six basic groups of therapsids.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026

Many of the world's succulent species are only found in the Succulent Karoo desert, which spans South Africa and Namibia.

From BBC ● Dec. 25, 2024

Drawing parallels across Karoo sites, the study links the Maniamba Basin's organic matter properties with those found in other Karoo sites stretching from Mozambique to Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa.

From Science Daily ● May 7, 2024

But it wasn’t until the current team re-examined 77 gorgonopsians fossils from the Karoo that they realized this was a new species.

From New York Times ● May 22, 2023

This old Karoo farmhouse had known tragedy, even as she had sensed.

From Blue Aloes Stories of South Africa by Cynthia Stockley

But to my mind the chances of our finding it in that great sea of sand and karoo scrub seemed almost infinitesimal.

From King Solomon's Mines by Henry Rider Haggard

Sir George Grey rode hard and far over the South African karoo, serving the Queen's writ in letters of gold.

From The Romance of a Pro-Consul Being The Personal Life And Memoirs Of The Right Hon. Sir George Grey, K.C.B. by James Milne

His house was a little square daub-and-wattle building, far out in the karoo, two miles from the homestead.

From The Story of an African Farm, a novel by Olive Schreiner

Rains had covered the karoo with a heavy coat of green that hid the red earth everywhere.

From The Story of an African Farm, a novel by Olive Schreiner

A man walking along the great wastes of the African karoo comes across a little stream.

From Socialism A Summary and Interpretation of Socialist Principles by John Spargo

Far different are the feelings inspired by the sight of this beautiful tree amid the karoos of Southern Africa.

From The Young Yagers A Narrative of Hunting Adventures in Southern Africa by Mayne Reid

Not on the blood-stained karoos of Africa, not upon the forest-plains of the Amazon, not by the icy shores of the Arctic Sea, certainly not upon the prairies of North America.

From The War Trail The Hunt of the Wild Horse by Mayne Reid

There are hunters residing upon the desert karoos, who hunt the ostrich as a profession.

From The Young Yagers A Narrative of Hunting Adventures in Southern Africa by Mayne Reid