playa

American  

[plahy-uh] / ˈplaɪ ə /

noun

1. Western U.S. the sandy, salty, or mud-caked flat floor of a desert basin having interior drainage, usually occupied by a shallow lake during or after prolonged, heavy rains.

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playa British  

/ ˈplɑːjə, ˈplaja /

noun

1. (in the US) a temporary lake, or its dry often salty bed, in a desert basin

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playa Scientific  

/ plī′ə /

1. A dry lake bed at the bottom of a desert basin, sometimes temporarily covered with water. Playas have no vegetation and are among the flattest geographical features in the world.

2. Also called sink

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Etymology

Origin of playa

1850–55, < Spanish: shore < Late Latin plagia; plage

Example Sentences

Arkapaw: I remember the moment that he brought it up, we were at the Playa Vista Imax headquarters and we had just done a screening to look at the prints.

From Los Angeles Times

But then the set undergoes an abrupt tonal shift to R&B on “Stay Here 4 Life” and “Playa.”

From The Wall Street Journal

He went to Santa Monica College and then UCLA, where he earned a degree in horticulture, and worked as a gardener on weekends, primarily for Robert J. Chrisman, a wealthy Farmers Insurance executive and hobbyist orchid grower who lived in Playa del Rey.

From Los Angeles Times

She then moved to Manhattan Beach, Playa del Rey and now lives in Playa Vista, where “everybody has a dog, and the people who don’t, borrow someone else’s dog, because everybody’s out walking dogs,” Buss notes.

From Los Angeles Times

I go to Varnish Lab for a manicure with Tommy, or Escape Spa in Playa Vista for a facial or a massage.

From Los Angeles Times