steppe

[ step ]

/ stɛp /

noun

an extensive plain, especially one without trees.

The Steppes,

the vast grasslands, especially those in the S and E European and W and SW Asian parts of Russia.
Kirghiz Steppe.

Words nearby steppe

stepmother, stepney, stepover, steppage, stepparent, steppe, stepped-up, steppenwolf, stepper, steppes, stepping stone

Origin of steppe

1665–75; < Russian step' or Ukrainian step; ulterior origin uncertain

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH steppe

step steppe

Definition for steppes (2 of 2)

Kirghiz Steppe

noun

a steppe in Kazakhstan.

Also called The Steppes.

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

Examples from the Web for steppes

On the Kirghese steppes the horse is prominent in gastronomic festivities.
Overland through Asia; Pictures of Siberian, Chinese, and Tartar Life|Thomas Wallace Knox
I see, even now, the old-fashioned house, a typical manor-house of the steppes.
A Desperate Character and Other Stories|Ivan Turgenev
But if I can't I'll ride back to the steppes and loot the Turanian borders with the kozaki.
The People of the Black Circle|Robert E. Howard
And he loses himself in the contemplation of the snow-covered crests rising abruptly above the surface of the steppes.
Russia: Its People and Its Literature|Emilia Pardo Bazán

This section is near the northern border of the arid Patagonian steppes.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 5|Various

British Dictionary definitions for steppes (1 of 3)

Steppes

/ (stɛps) /

pl n the Steppes

the huge grasslands of Eurasia, chiefly in Ukraine and Russia

another name for Kyrgyz Steppe

British Dictionary definitions for steppes (2 of 3)

Kirghiz Steppe

noun

a variant spelling of Kyrgyz Steppe

British Dictionary definitions for steppes (3 of 3)

steppe

/ (stɛp) /

noun

(often plural) an extensive grassy plain usually without treesCompare prairie, pampas

Word Origin for steppe

C17: from Old Russian step lowland

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