often attributive
1
: land in or predominantly in grass
2
: a tract of grassland: such as
a
: a large area of level or rolling land in the Mississippi River valley that in its natural uncultivated state usually has deep fertile soil, a cover of tall coarse grasses, and few trees
b
: one of the dry treeless plateaus east of the Rocky Mountains that merge on their east side with the prairies proper and are characterized by shorter grasses and drier less fertile soil
Synonyms
Examples of prairie in a Sentence
Millions of buffalo once roamed the prairies.
The train tracks extend over miles of prairie.
Recent Examples on the Web
Many of the changes since 1932 have been caused by people: cutting forests, lighting fires, transforming prairie to crop fields, draining and plowing wetlands, expanding cities and suburbs, building homes on lakes and in forests, and otherwise altering or destroying habitat.
—
John Myers, Twin Cities, 26 May 2024
Rather than sound like another Newsom, her voice is original and pure — like those vast prairies.
—Angie Martoccio, Rolling Stone, 21 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for prairie 
John Myers, Twin Cities, 26 May 2024
Rather than sound like another Newsom, her voice is original and pure — like those vast prairies.
—Angie Martoccio, Rolling Stone, 21 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for prairie
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'prairie.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near prairie
Cite this Entry
“Prairie.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prairie. Accessed 6 Jun. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
prairie
noun
prai·rie
ˈpre(ə)r-ē 
: a large area of level or rolling grassland
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