Prairie
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.
Compare pampas, savanna, steppe.
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.
Prairie, The
noun
1.
a historical novel (1827) by James Fenimore Cooper.
noun
1.
(often pl) a treeless grassy plain of the central US and S Canada Compare pampas, steppe, savanna
prairie
(prâr’ē)
An extensive area of flat or rolling grassland, especially the large plain of central North America.
Read Also:
- Prairie-breaker
noun 1. breaker1 (def 6).
- Prairie-button-snakeroot
noun 1. a stout composite plant, Liatris pycnostachya, of prairies in the central U.S., having showy, rose-purple flower heads in dense spikes.
- Prairie-chicken
noun 1. either of two North American gallinaceous birds of western prairies, Tympanuchus cupido (greater prairie chicken) or T. pallidicinctus (lesser prairie chicken) having rufous, brown, black, and white plumage. 2. sharp-tailed grouse. prairie chicken noun 1. either of two mottled brown-and-white grouse, Tympanuchus cupido or T. pallidicinctus, of North America
- Prairie-clover
noun 1. any plant belonging to the genus Petalostemon, of the legume family, common in western North America, having pinnately compound leaves and spikes of white, purple, or pink flowers.
- Prairie-crab-apple
noun 1. a tree, Malus ioensis, of the rose family, native to the central U.S., having downy branchlets, white or rose-tinted flowers, and round, waxy, greenish fruit.