tundra

American  

[tuhn-druh, toon-] / ˈtʌn drə, ˈtʊn- /

noun

1. one of the vast, nearly level, treeless plains of the Arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America.

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tundra British  

/ ˈtʌndrə /

noun

1. 1. a vast treeless zone lying between the ice cap and the timberline of North America and Eurasia and having a permanently frozen subsoil

   2. ( as modifier )

      tundra vegetation

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tundra Scientific  

/ tŭn′drə /

1. A cold, treeless, usually lowland area of far northern regions. The lower strata of soil of tundras are permanently frozen, but in summer the top layer of soil thaws and can support low-growing mosses, lichens, grasses, and small shrubs.

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tundra Cultural  

1. A land area near the North Pole where the soil is permanently frozen a few feet underground.

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Discover More

There are no trees on the tundra: the vegetation is primarily lichens and mosses.

Tundra is widespread in Lapland and in the far northern portions of Alaska, Canada, and the Soviet Union.

Etymology

Origin of tundra

First recorded in 1840–45; from Russian túndra, from Sami tundar “hill”; compare Kola Sami tūndar “flat elevated area”; akin to Finnish tunturi “Arctic hill”

Compare meaning

How does tundra compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• taiga vs. tundra

Example Sentences

But the road is bumpy, and several times Olsen has to get up to manually push the sled, stuck on the tundra's rocks in patches where there is no ice.

From Barron's

They had both been out on the tundra enough to know when they were on thin ice.

From Literature

Before long, he was being sent to the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field as a sideline cinematographer.

From The Wall Street Journal

To uncover this history, researchers extracted peat cores reaching about half a meter deep from nine tundra locations north of the Brooks Range.

From Science Daily

It’s also a signal that anyone planning to dig up those rare earths from Greenland’s tundra will have Washington’s support to overcome any resistance from China or local environmentalists.

From Barron's

Related Words

• expanse
• prairie
• steppe
• wasteland