cow town

noun

1. a small town, especially one in a cattle-raising district in the western U.S. or Canada.
2. a town or city, especially in the western U.S. or Canada, from which cattle are shipped to market.

Word History and Origins

Origin of cow town¹

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

In proud but struggling little communities throughout rural Northern California, grand old hotels hark back to when these places were booming Gold Rush towns, timber towns and cow towns.

From Los Angeles Times

The family moved from Arizona to Germany to England before settling in Davenport, a tiny cow town in eastern Washington.

From Science Magazine

While Green Bay was fawning and bowing to the demands of a diva, the Broncos got a quarterback capable of changing everything for the long-suffering football team in our dusty old cow town.

From Seattle Times

She grew up in a literal cow town, Fort Worth, where she was a football cheerleader, and her activism took root at her small Quaker college, Earlham.

From New York Times

Bat Masterson and a land agent make a Kansas cow town safe for wheat farmers.

From Los Angeles Times