tundra

[ tuhn-druh, too n- ]

/ ˈtʌn drə, ˈtʊn- /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tundra ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

Nearby words

tuna, tunable, tunbridge ware, tunbridge wells, tundish, tundra, tundra swan, tune, tune in, tune out, tune up

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

Examples from the Web for 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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
Probably the gaily dressed female is a poor mother at best and prefers to join the large flocks of her sex on the tundra pools.
Life Histories of North American Shore Birds, Part 1 (of 2)|Arthur Cleveland Bent
Thus the tundra climate extended from the Scottish lowlands to the south of England, the land being bleak and almost treeless.
Men of the Old Stone Age|Henry Fairfield Osborn

What was more, she was leaving the tundra; the broad-stretching deer pastures of the Arctics.
The Purple Flame|Roy J. Snell
Nest on a hummock of the tundra, near a small pool, lined with grass and down.
The Bird Book|Chester A. Reed
Should they fail, she might indeed return to the tundra, but she knew it could never be the same to her.
The Purple Flame|Roy J. Snell

British Dictionary definitions for tundra

tundra

/ (ˈtʌndrə) /

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

Science definitions for tundra

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.

Culture definitions for tundra

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.