Showing results for machair. Search instead for hat+hair.

machair

British

/ ˈmæxər /

noun

(in the western Highlands of Scotland) a strip of sandy, grassy, often lime-rich land just above the high-water mark at a sandy shore: used as grazing or arable land

"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

Etymology

Origin of machair

C17: from Scottish Gaelic

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.

Neil said his sister's house was on the edge of an area of coastal meadow called machair next to the sea.

From BBC • Jan. 28, 2025

From Stornoway, I drive north across a wide open landscape with wildflowers colouring the machair – the fertile calcium-rich sand and shell plains unique to the area.

From The Guardian • Jul. 12, 2019

A complex of mounds on the wide sweep of machair at Bornais was excavated between 1994 and 2004.

From BBC • Aug. 19, 2012

Latha dhomhsa siubhal bheann, one day as I travelled the hills; latha dhuinn air machair Alba, one day when we were in the lowlands of Scotland; on Scotia's plains.

From Elements of Gaelic Grammar by Stewart, Alexander

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023