prairie

[prair-ee]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR prairie ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an extensive, level or slightly undulating, mostly treeless tract of land in the Mississippi valley, characterized by a highly fertile soil and originally covered with coarse grasses, and merging into drier plateaus in the west.Compare pampas, savanna, steppe.

a tract of grassland; meadow.

(in Florida) a low, sandy tract of grassland often covered with water.

Southern U.S. wet grassland; marsh.

(initial capital letter) a steam locomotive having a two-wheeled front truck, six driving wheels, and a two-wheeled rear truck.

Nearby words

Origin of prairie

1675–85; < French: meadow < Vulgar Latin *prātāria, equivalent to Latin prāt(um) meadow + -āria, feminine of -ārius -ary

Related formsprai·rie·like, adjective

Prairie, The

noun

a historical novel (1827) by James Fenimore Cooper.

Compare Leather-Stocking Tales.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for prairie

He stands, one assumes on a porch, which overlooks a prairie.
Huckabee 2016: Bend Over and Take It Like a Prisoner!|Olivia Nuzzi|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
One year later and 10 blocks away, my mother came into the world, the granddaughter of those pioneers who had roamed the prairie.
Those Kansas City Blues: A Family History|Katie Baker|October 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There, abandoned “ghost towns” populate the prairie fields and deserts, serving as a reminder of a not-so-distant past.
The Ghost Towns of Arizona Live On|Justin Jones|July 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Because there is always this about the land, about prairie and pond and mountain: they never go away.
The Death of a Rodeo Cowboy|Peter Richmond|May 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST

But this hardscrabble, prairie town, with its population of 5,000 people, cast its charm on Ballantine.
Death in the Heartland: What Happened to Steven Haataja?|Tim Teeman|March 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
By this time the sun was low in the west, and a short time afterward it dipped under the rim of the prairie.
Bert Wilson in the Rockies|J. W. Duffield
In our village, we were as happy as a buffalo on the plains; but now we are more like the hungry and howling wolf in the prairie.
History, Manners, and Customs of the North American Indians|George Mogridge
For several days his voracious plowshare had been turning over the prairie in long ribbons of swath like the pages of a book.
The Wrong Woman|Charles D. Stewart
They looked out a place, but it was near the bushes, and Brother Joseph gave an order to go forward on to the prairie.
History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Volume 2|Joseph Smith
He had watched them out of sight over the prairie, and had felt quite proud of himself.
The Sun Maid|Evelyn Raymond

British Dictionary definitions for prairie

prairie

noun

(often plural) a treeless grassy plain of the central US and S CanadaCompare pampas, steppe, savanna

Word Origin for prairie

C18: from French, from Old French praierie, from Latin prātum meadow

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

Word Origin and History for prairie

prairie

tract of level or undulating grassland in North America, by 1773, from French prairie "meadow, grassland," from Old French praerie "meadow, pastureland" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *prataria, from Latin pratum "meadow," originally "a hollow." The word existed in Middle English as prayere, but was lost and reborrowed to describe the American plains. Prairie dog is attested from 1774; prairie schooner "immigrant's wagon" is from 1841. Illinois has been the Prairie State since at least 1861. In Latin, Neptunia prata was poetic for "the sea."

Science definitions for prairie