cow town
noun
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
Examples of cow town in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
What was once just a sleepy little ‘cow town’ in Central California, has now become one of the trendiest wine regions to visit, along with national wine sales that are outperforming the rest of the market.
—
Liz Thach, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
If Great Bend failed to achieve the notoriety of Dodge City or other cow towns, Moses’s fellow citizens gave him much of the credit.
—Katy Roberts, Washington Post, 29 July 2024
And while Livingston is far from a cow town — more like a fancy-fly-rod-and-real-estate town — Campione still stands out.
—Melissa Clark, New York Times, 18 Sep. 2023
In the sporting world, all eyes were on tiny Shelby, Montana, a two-block cow town where on July Fourth heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey, the Manassa Mauler, would defend this title against Tommy Gibbons.
—Andrew Wolfson, The Courier-Journal, 30 June 2023
In proud but struggling little communities throughout rural Northern California, grand old hotels hark back to when these places were booming Gold Rush towns, timber towns and cow towns.
—Laura Blasey, Los Angeles Times, 30 May 2023
Peoria morphed from cow town to boom town, tripling in population to about 190,000 today.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Mar. 2023
Daruszka, who speaks on rail topics at libraries and local historical societies, is leading a campaign to make more people aware of how railroads fueled Chicago’s explosive growth from frontier cow town to America’s third largest city.
—Susan Degrane, chicagotribune.com, 4 Nov. 2021
Not a shining city on a hill, but a little cow town in the mountains.
—Erin Sood, Dallas News, 1 July 2021
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Liz Thach, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
If Great Bend failed to achieve the notoriety of Dodge City or other cow towns, Moses’s fellow citizens gave him much of the credit.
—Katy Roberts, Washington Post, 29 July 2024
And while Livingston is far from a cow town — more like a fancy-fly-rod-and-real-estate town — Campione still stands out.
—Melissa Clark, New York Times, 18 Sep. 2023
In the sporting world, all eyes were on tiny Shelby, Montana, a two-block cow town where on July Fourth heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey, the Manassa Mauler, would defend this title against Tommy Gibbons.
—Andrew Wolfson, The Courier-Journal, 30 June 2023
In proud but struggling little communities throughout rural Northern California, grand old hotels hark back to when these places were booming Gold Rush towns, timber towns and cow towns.
—Laura Blasey, Los Angeles Times, 30 May 2023
Peoria morphed from cow town to boom town, tripling in population to about 190,000 today.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Mar. 2023
Daruszka, who speaks on rail topics at libraries and local historical societies, is leading a campaign to make more people aware of how railroads fueled Chicago’s explosive growth from frontier cow town to America’s third largest city.
—Susan Degrane, chicagotribune.com, 4 Nov. 2021
Not a shining city on a hill, but a little cow town in the mountains.
—Erin Sood, Dallas News, 1 July 2021
Cite this Entry
“Cow town.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cow%20town. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share