Nullarbor Plain

American  

[nuhl-er-bawr, nuhl-ahr-ber] / ˈnʌl ərˌbɔr, nʌlˈɑr bər /

noun

1. a treeless, semiarid area of southern Australia, contiguous to the Great Australian Bight.

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Nullarbor Plain British  

/ ˈnʌləˌbɔː /

noun

1. a vast low plateau of S Australia: extends north from the Great Australian Bight to the Great Victoria Desert; has no surface water or trees. Area: 260 000 sq km (100 000 sq miles)

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Etymology

Origin of Nullarbor Plain

From Latin nullus “no, none” + arbor “tree”

Example Sentences

The record-breaking rain flooded sections of the Nullarbor Plain, a vast mostly barren area, closing off roads and cutting off the main rail link to the east, both crucial freight links.

From New York Times • Mar. 12, 2024

The art is considered sacred to the Indigenous Mirning people who live on the Nullarbor Plain.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 21, 2022

He traveled to the Arctic, the Galapagos, Kenya, the Grand Canyon, Antarctica, Namibia, Australia’s Nullarbor Plain, not to see them but to learn them.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 29, 2020

With him, we tread the grit of old atomic test sites in Australia’s Nullarbor Plain; meet fatalistic migrants at Arizona’s Mexican border; and contemplate the bleak ecodisaster of Central Asia’s disappearing Aral Sea.

From Nature • Jul. 23, 2018

After a failed "rendezvous" in a Perth zoo, the female giraffe this week crossed Australia's harsh Nullarbor Plain in a purpose-built truck.

From BBC • Sep. 17, 2015