prairie

American  

[prair-ee] / ˈprɛər i /

noun

1. an extensive, level or slightly undulating, mostly treeless tract of land in the Mississippi valley, characterized by a highly fertile soil and originally covered with coarse grasses, and merging into drier plateaus in the west.

2. a tract of grassland; meadow.

3. (in Florida) a low, sandy tract of grassland often covered with water.

4. Southern U.S. wet grassland; marsh.

5. (initial capital letter) a steam locomotive having a two-wheeled front truck, six driving wheels, and a two-wheeled rear truck.

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prairie British  

/ ˈprɛərɪ /

noun

1. (often plural) a treeless grassy plain of the central US and S Canada Compare pampas steppe savanna

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prairie Scientific  

/ prâr′ē /

1. An extensive area of flat or rolling grassland, especially the large plain of central North America.

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Other Word Forms

• prairielike adjective

Etymology

Origin of prairie

1675–85; < French: meadow < Vulgar Latin *prātāria, equivalent to Latin prāt ( um ) meadow + -āria, feminine of -ārius -ary

Example Sentences

How did she not know about a place like this in the middle of the tall grass prairie?

From Literature

These days, new signs sit in the prairie grass: “SAY NO TO THE PRISON! Keep the country, country.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Once out of the prairie in western Minnesota, the scenery got more conventional, with more towns, as well as larger cities.

From Los Angeles Times

He said Thor is located on prairie farmland in central Saskatchewan, close to the geographic center of North America and nearby access to freight-rail lines operated by Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City.

From The Wall Street Journal

One of Canada's main objectives during this trip is to ease Chinese tariffs on Canadian canola that have hurt farmers in the country's prairie provinces.

From BBC

Related Words

• meadow
• pasture
• plain
• savanna
• steppe