prairie

prairie — noun

1. a broad stretch of mostly level ground, especially in central Canada and the Uni

1.nounC1
Definition

a broad stretch of mostly level ground, especially in central Canada and the United States, that is covered with grass and has very few trees

Example

We drove for hours across the prairie under a huge blue sky.

collocation: across the prairie

In spring, yellow flowers covered the prairie behind Grandpa's old farm.

Common collocations
  • open prairie
  • snowy prairie
  • prairie flowers
  • prairie winds
  • cross the prairie
  • on the prairie
Synonyms
  • grassland

    broader general term for land covered with grass in many parts of the world

  • plain

    stresses flat open land, but it is not always grassy or almost treeless

  • steppe

    similar kind of open land, especially in Eurasia, often drier in feel

  • meadow

    usually smaller and softer in image, often with flowers or hay

Antonyms
  • forest

    land mainly covered with trees

  • woodland

    an area with many trees rather than open grass

Grammar Patterns

across the prairie

on the prairie

Usage Note

Usually refers to the large natural grasslands of central North America. For a smaller local green area, words like 'field' or 'meadow' are often more natural.

Common Mistakes

There is a prairie behind our apartment building.
There is a field behind our apartment building.
a prairie is usually a very large natural grassland, not a small patch of open ground.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Prairie, grassland, plain, and steppe all describe open land, but they do not create the same picture. Prairie usually points to the huge natural grass regions of North America, with wide skies and very few trees. Grassland is the broad general word and can describe similar land anywhere in the world. Plain mainly stresses flatness, so a plain may be grassy, sandy, or dry. Steppe is closer in shape to prairie, but it is usually used for the dry treeless regions of Eurasia and sounds more geographical. Say 'bison on the prairie,' but 'a broad coastal plain' and 'the Central Asian steppe.'

prairie ↗grassland ↗plain ↗steppe

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

English borrowed prairie from French, where it meant 'meadow'. The French word goes back to Latin 'pratum', meaning 'meadow' or 'grassy land'. In English, the meaning became more closely tied to the large open grasslands of North America.