tundra

[ tuhn-druh, toon- ]

noun

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

tundra

/ 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

tundra

/ 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.

tundra

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

Notes

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 .

Word History and Origins

Origin of tundra¹

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”

Word History and Origins

Origin of tundra¹

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

Example Sentences

In Rocky Mountain, concern has been raised about mounting pressure on high-alpine tundra off of Trail Ridge Road, the result of overcrowding.

From Outside Online

Ever hotter temperatures are causing age-old glaciers to recede, sea ice to melt and more frequent, larger wildfires to burn across expanses of tundra.

From Ozy

Surrounded by alpine lakes and rivers, a loose network of game trails, and a high mountain tundra known as the Flat Tops, the seven first-come, first-served campsites offer an impressive taste of the state’s trademark wilderness.

From Outside Online

We’ve picked ten of the greatest outdoor reality shows over the years, taking us from the blistering tropics to the freezing tundra and everywhere in between.

From Outside Online

The first posited the creatures spent their whole lives in the tundra.

From Popular-Science

Hold the Dark is set in the Alaskan wilderness, in an isolated village at the lip of the tundra.

From The Daily Beast

The emissions of frozen CO2 and the tundra around the Arctic Ocean have already begun as it thaws.

From The Daily Beast

The characteristic tundra animal is the reindeer, though musk-ox, woolly mammoth, and others were wide-spread at this time.

From Project Gutenberg

Tundra and steppe animals became more rare; a forest and meadow fauna took possession of Europe.

From Project Gutenberg

Cro-Magnon man had always been a reindeer hunter, accustomed and well adapted to the life and conditions of tundra or steppe.

From Project Gutenberg

Tundra, steppe, and forest had each its special types of animal as well as plant life.

From Project Gutenberg

On the tundra south of the mouth of the Yukon River an orphan boy once lived with his aunt.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• expanse
• prairie
• steppe
• wasteland