subarctic

[ suhb-ahrk-tik, -ahr-tik ]

/ sʌbˈɑrk tɪk, -ˈɑr tɪk /

adjective

of, pertaining to, similar to, or being the region immediately south of the Arctic Circle; subpolar.

Nearby words

Origin of subarctic

First recorded in 1850–55; sub- + arctic

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

Examples from the Web for subarctic

Killer whales may remain in arctic or subarctic waters until driven out by new forming ice in October and November.
Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises of the Western North Atlantic|Stephen Leatherwood
This same broad conclusion is sustained also at the north, where the prairie dovetails, as it were, with the subarctic forest.
North America|Israel C. Russell
Trees are absent, except along the inland border, where the tundra merges with the subarctic forest.
North America|Israel C. Russell
The codfish (Gadus callarias) is a creature of little beauty but of great usefulness, swarming in all arctic and subarctic seas.
Elementary Zoology, Second Edition|Vernon L. Kellogg

For convenience we may designate this vast and but little known northern region as the Subarctic Forest plains.
North America|Israel C. Russell

British Dictionary definitions for subarctic

subarctic

/ (sʌbˈɑːktɪk) /

adjective

of or relating to latitudes immediately south of the Arctic Circle

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

Science definitions for subarctic

subarctic

[ sŭb′-ärk′tĭk, -är′tĭk ]

Relating to the geographic area just south of the Arctic Circle. The subarctic region is the coldest part of the North Temperate Zone, characterized by warm but very brief summers, and bitterly cold winters. Little vegetation exists in this climate, as temperatures are extreme, ranging from below -30°C (-22°F) in the winter and as warm as 30°C (86°F) in the summer.