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Savannah

[suh-van-uh]
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noun
  1. a seaport in E Georgia, near the mouth of the Savannah River.
  2. a river flowing SE from E Georgia along most of the boundary between Georgia and South Carolina and into the Atlantic. 314 miles (505 km) long.
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savanna

or sa·van·nah

[suh-van-uh]
noun
  1. a plain characterized by coarse grasses and scattered tree growth, especially on the margins of the tropics where the rainfall is seasonal, as in eastern Africa.
  2. grassland region with scattered trees, grading into either open plain or woodland, usually in subtropical or tropical regions.
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Origin of savanna

1545–55; earlier zavana < Spanish (now sabana) < Taino zabana
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

grassland, plain, savannah, meadow, pasture, prairie, steppe, llano, pasturage, veldt

Examples from the Web for savannah

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • He it was who forged the shaft of the Savannah, the first steamship which crossed the Atlantic.

  • During the voyage to Savannah this sense of comfort became stronger.

    The Portygee

    Joseph Crosby Lincoln

  • I could send a dispatch from Savannah, you could make some excuse!

    The Bondwoman

    Marah Ellis Ryan

  • "I suppose the Savannah had that distinction," was the reply.

  • There were also two small ones on the stocks at Charleston, and another at Savannah.

British Dictionary definitions for savannah

Savannah

noun
  1. a port in the US, in E Georgia, near the mouth of the Savannah River: port of departure of the Savannah for Liverpool (1819), the first steamship to cross the Atlantic. Pop: 127 573 (2003 est)
  2. a river in the southeastern US, formed by the confluence of the Tugaloo and Seneca Rivers in NW South Carolina: flows southeast to the Atlantic. Length: 505 km (314 miles)
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savanna

savannah

noun
  1. open grasslands, usually with scattered bushes or trees, characteristic of much of tropical Africa
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Word Origin

C16: from Spanish zavana, from Taino zabana
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 savannah

n.

also savanna, "treeless plain," 1550s, from Spanish sabana, earlier zavana "treeless plain," from Taino (Arawakan) zabana. In U.S. use, especially in Florida, "a tract of low-lying marshy ground" (1670s).

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Savannah

port city in U.S. state of Georgia, from savana, name applied to the Native Americans in the area by early European explorers, perhaps from a self-designation of the Shawnee Indians, or from the European topographical term (see savannah).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
savannah in Science

savanna

  1. A flat, grass-covered area of tropical or subtropical regions, nearly treeless in some places but generally having a mix of widely spaced trees and bushes. Savannas have distinct wet and dry seasons, with the mix of vegetation dependent primarily on the relative length of the two seasons.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
savannah in Culture

savanna

A tropical land mass of grassland and scattered trees.

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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.