Sahara
Americannoun
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a desert in northern Africa, extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Nile valley. About 3,500,000 square miles (9,065,000 square kilometers).
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any arid waste.
noun
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At approximately 3.5 million square miles, it is the world's largest desert.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of Sahara
From Arabic ṣaḥra (plural ṣaḥārā ) “desert”
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.
Whether you were in France, the Sahara Desert or Chile, the sky "would no longer be clear, resembling instead the sky seen in the suburbs of a city," he warned.
From Barron's • Jul. 1, 2026
Huss said the "very bad state of the glaciers at the moment" was down to a "combination of bad circumstances", including less snowfall, and the arrival of dust from the Sahara Desert in March.
From Barron's • Jun. 27, 2026
In 1966, Duncan was working as a short-order cook at the Sahara, making 400 salads an hour, when she slipped on spilled grease, severely injuring her shoulder, hip and back.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
Last year, Airbnb stopped referring to listings in Western Sahara as being in Morocco.
From BBC • May 24, 2026
West Africa eventually did receive Fertile Crescent domestic animals across the Sahara, and later accepted Islamic influence, including Arabic writing.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
