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

To suddenly stop off at a cow-town station, without baggage or definite itinerary, was unconventional, to say the least.

From Project Gutenberg

Willets was a cow-town, and for the winter its activity was over.

From Project Gutenberg

The meetings that I attended were held in Miles City, at that time a typical cow town.

From Project Gutenberg

It was of the type of the average cow-town of the western plains—artificial and crude.

From Project Gutenberg

The little cow-town "set" was being torn down to make room for something else quite different.

From Project Gutenberg