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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



36 words match “PRAIRIE”

PRAIRIE n. 2 definitions
issippi valley, between the Alleghanies and the Rocky mountains. From the forests and the prairies, From the great lakes of the northland. Longfellow.
PRAIRIE STATE n.
Illinois; -- a nickname.
BACK FIRE n.
A fire started ahead of a forest or prairie fire to burn only against the wind, so that when the two fires meet both must go out for lack of fuel.
BACKSET v.
To plow again, in the fall; -- said of prairie land broken up in the spring. [Western U.S.]
BOIS D'ARC n.
e (Maclura aurantiaca). The bois d'arc seems to be the characteristic growth of the black prairies. U. S. Census (1880).
BUFFALO n.
s of short, sweet grass (Buchloë dactyloides), from two to four inches high, covering the prairies on which the buffaloes, or bisons, feed. [U.S.] -- Buffalo nut (Bot.), the oily and drupelike fruit of an American shrub (Pyrularia oleifera); also, the shrub itself; oilnut. -- Buffalo robe, the skin of the bison of Nor…
BURROW v.
of North America (Speotyto cunicularia), which lives in holes, often in company with the prairie dog.
COMPASS n.
ces of curved woodwork. -- Compass plant, Compass flower (Bot.), a plant of the American prairies (Silphium laciniatum), not unlike a small sunflower; rosinweed. Its lower and root leaves are vertical, and on the prairies are disposed to present their edges north and south. Its leaves are turned to the north as true a…
CONESTOGA WAGON; CONESTOGA WAIN n.
A kind of large broad-wheeled wagon, usually covered, for traveling in soft soil and on prairies.
COVE n.
A strip of prairie extending into woodland; also, a recess in the side of a mountain. [U.S.]
COYOTE n.
s latrans), allied to the dog, found in the western part of North America; -- called also prairie wolf. Its voice is a snapping bark, followed by a prolonged, shrill howl.
DERECHO n.
ent cyclonic tendency, usually accompanied with rain and often destructive, common in the prairie regions of the United States.
GOPHER n.
rmophilus Franklini) and the striped gopher (S. tridecemlineatus); -- called also striped prairie squirrel, leopard marmot, and leopard spermophile. See Spermophile.
GROUND n.
ern striped squirrel or chipmunk and some allied Western species; the latter includes the prairie squirrel or striped gopher, the gray gopher, and many allied Western species. See Chipmunk, and Gopher. (b) Any species of the African genus Xerus, allied to Tamias. -- Ground story. Same as Ground floor (above). -- Grou…
HAWK n.
equently applied, also, to true falcons, as the sparrow hawk, pigeon hawk, duck hawk, and prairie hawk.
LANNER; LANNERET n.
(Falco lanarius), of Southern Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa, resembling the American prairie falcon.
LUGGER n.
An Indian falcon (Falco jugger), similar to the European lanner and the American prairie falcon.
MARMOT n.
ne of several species of ground squirrels or gophers of the genus Spermophilus; also, the prairie dog. Marmot squirrel (Zoöl.), a ground squirrel or spermophile. -- Prairie marmot. See Prairie dog.
MOTTE n.
A clump of trees in a prairie. [Local, U.S.]
PIGEON n.
es of Dipholis, Diospyros, and Coccoloba. -- Pigeon woodpecker (Zoöl.), the flicker. -- Prairie pigeon. (Zoöl.) (a) The upland plover. (b) The golden plover. [Local, U.S.]
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