tundra

[tuhn-druh, too n-]

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noun

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

Origin of tundra

1835–45; < Russian túndra < Lappish; compare Kola Lappish tūndar flat elevated area

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

Related Words for tundra

wasteland, prairie, steppe, expanse, field, plateau, flat, flatland

Examples from the Web for tundra

Contemporary Examples of tundra

Hold the Dark is set in the Alaskan wilderness, in an isolated village at the lip of the tundra.
Compliments Are Nice, but Enough With the Cormac McCarthy Comparisons
William Giraldi
October 21, 2014
The emissions of frozen CO2 and the tundra around the Arctic Ocean have already begun as it thaws.
Al Gore Warms Up
Lloyd Grove
December 9, 2009

Historical Examples of tundra

The snow was sifting over the tundra in icy gusts from the westward.
The Trail of a Sourdough
May Kellogg Sullivan
Now the snow had almost all gone from the mountains and the tundra.
Little White Fox and his Arctic Friends
Roy J. Snell
He likes to fight all the little folks of the tundra and sea because he is so big.
Little White Fox and his Arctic Friends
Roy J. Snell
Would it be in the tall mountains, or on the tundra, or out on the roof of the sea?
Little White Fox and his Arctic Friends
Roy J. Snell
He went wandering all over the tundra, looking for something to eat.
Little White Fox and his Arctic Friends
Roy J. Snell

British Dictionary definitions for tundra

tundra

noun

a vast treeless zone lying between the ice cap and the timberline of North America and Eurasia and having a permanently frozen subsoil
(as modifier)tundra vegetation

Word Origin for tundra

C19: from Russian, from Lapp tundar hill; related to Finnish tunturi treeless hill

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 tundra

an Arctic steppe, 1841, from Russian tundra, from Lappish tundar "elevated wasteland."

tundra in Science

tundra

[tŭn′drə]

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.

tundra in Culture

tundra

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

Note

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

Note

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