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
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
There’s a spot in northwest Fort Worth that contains 3,700 acres of untouched and protected prairies, forests, wetlands and swamps.
—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 Aug. 2025
Cottonmouth snake size How to identify a rattlesnake The habitat range of rattlesnakes reaches across the majority of the United States, primarily in the desert, mountains, prairies and along coastlines.
—Janet Loehrke, USA Today, 11 July 2025
In 2011, during a previous devastating Central Texas drought, one scientist predicted that, within a couple of generations, Austin would look more like the West Texas city of San Angelo than our comparatively green hills and wooded prairies of Central Texas.
—Michael Barnes, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025
This affected the prairie’s biological diversity as rivers were rerouted, synthetic nitrogen became a standard fertilizer and the delicate symbiosis of the prairie was uprooted.
—Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 31 May 2025
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Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 Aug. 2025
Cottonmouth snake size How to identify a rattlesnake The habitat range of rattlesnakes reaches across the majority of the United States, primarily in the desert, mountains, prairies and along coastlines.
—Janet Loehrke, USA Today, 11 July 2025
In 2011, during a previous devastating Central Texas drought, one scientist predicted that, within a couple of generations, Austin would look more like the West Texas city of San Angelo than our comparatively green hills and wooded prairies of Central Texas.
—Michael Barnes, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025
This affected the prairie’s biological diversity as rivers were rerouted, synthetic nitrogen became a standard fertilizer and the delicate symbiosis of the prairie was uprooted.
—Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 31 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for prairie
Cite this Entry
“Prairie.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prairie. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
prairie
noun
prai·rie
ˈpre(ə)r-ē 
: a large area of level or rolling grassland
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