pampas

American  

[pam-puhz, pam-puhs, pahm-pahs] / ˈpæm pəz, ˈpæm pəs, ˈpɑm pɑs /

plural noun

singular

pampa

1. the vast grassy plains of southern South America, especially in Argentina.

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pampas British  

/ pæmˈpiːən, ˈpæmpɪən, ˈpæmpəz /

noun

1. (functioning as singular or more often plural)

   1. the extensive grassy plains of temperate South America, esp in Argentina

   2. ( as modifier )

      pampas dwellers

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Other Word Forms

• pampean adjective

Etymology

Origin of pampas

First recorded in 1695–1705; from Latin American Spanish, plural of pampa, from Quechua: “flat, unbounded plain”

Example Sentences

Horticultural invasives, such as butterfly bush, English ivy, pampas grass and many other garden favorites that have escaped cultivation, are of increasing concern.

From Seattle Times

Whereas glass scrapers were an incremental improvement over flint and obsidian, the introduction of the horse sparked a profound shift on the open grasslands, or pampas, of Patagonia.

From Science Magazine

Years ago, when he read Bruce Chatwin’s “In Patagonia,” he retraced the writer’s 168-mile trek across the pampas of South America to the Cave of the Giant Sloth.

From Los Angeles Times

He pointed to a cavernous undercut that likely destabilized the bluff and noted the clusters of pampas grass, a fluffy, straw-colored weed that wedges its roots into the rocky cracks and joints.

From Los Angeles Times

We stood in the shade on a ranch called Los Ombúes, for the wide canopied trees common to the pampas, and watched three gauchos separate cattle, marking those for slaughter with red paint.

From New York Times

Related Words

• pasture
• plain
• prairie
• savanna
• steppe