SINCE 1828

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

cow town

noun

Updated on: 3 Apr 2018

Definition of cow town

1 : a town or city that serves as a market center or shipping point for cattle

2 : a usually small unsophisticated town within a cattle-raising area

Recent Examples of cow town from the Web

Even the cow towns of the supposedly Wild West had gun laws far more strict than those found in any American jurisdiction today.

— joseph blocher, Vox, "A gun debate compromise: let cities and rural areas pass different laws," 24 Mar. 2018
People come from all over the world to Abilene to get a sense of the cow town where a handful of rough-and-tumble characters used to drive thousands of cattle coming up from Texas.

— lauren johnson and jesse sparks, Smithsonian, "The 20 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2017," 2 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cow town.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of cow town

1885

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