submarginal
Americanadjective
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Biology. near the margin.
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below the margin.
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not worth cultivating, as land; less than satisfactory; unproductive.
adjective
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below the minimum requirements
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situated close to the margin of an organ or part
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(of land) infertile and unprofitable for cultivation
Other Word Forms
- submarginally adverb
Etymology
Origin of submarginal
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Later Mr. Morgenthau headed the State Conservation Commission, and Professor Warren, again a member, surveyed the marginal and submarginal lands of the State, made recommendations on which Governor Roosevelt based his reforestation program.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Conservationists expect the stamps to yield between $600,000 and $1,000,000 yearly for use in buying submarginal farm lands, turning them into duck refuges.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Millions of acres of sandy or submarginal land were planted to wheat, corn and cotton.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Charging in from opposite directions, Ohio's Taft wanted to cut out the $12.5 million "outhouse fund" for submarginal farms, and North Dakota's maverick Republican William Langer wanted to double it.
From Time Magazine Archive
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They and the coyotes lived clever, despairing, submarginal lives.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.