semiarid

adjective semi·ar·id \ -ˈer-əd , -ˈa-rəd , ˌse-ˌmī- , -mi- \

Updated on: 17 Apr 2018

Definition of semiarid

: characterized by light rainfall; especially : having from about 10 to 20 inches (25 to 51 centimeters) of annual precipitation

—

semiaridity

play \ˌse-mē-ə-ˈri-də-tē, -er-ˈi-, -ˌa-ri-, ˌse-ˌmī-, -mi-\ noun

See semiarid defined for kids

Recent Examples of semiarid from the Web

Antelope, Oregon, a town of forty people, barely noticeable in the sagebrush-scattered, semiarid country of central Oregon, doesn’t usually have its town council meetings covered by CBS News.

— wendla mcgovern, The New Republic, "Range War: The Disciples Come to Antelope," 12 Apr. 2018
Along with much of the semiarid western United States, California relies on snowpack for its water supplies.

— National Geographic, "Mudslides, Wildfires, and Drought—California's Deadly Weather Explained," 10 Jan. 2018
Now, analyses of cave formations from the region bolster the notion that changes in the strength of that semiarid region’s summer monsoon may have played a major role in this cultural upheaval, and others like it.

— sid perkins, Science | AAAS, "Ancient Asian cultures may have risen and fallen on the strength of monsoons," 13 Dec. 2017
Most of Niger’s population is concentrated in the south, in a semiarid band known as the Sahel, which runs across Africa.

— ben taub, The New Yorker, "The Desperate Journey of a Trafficked Girl," 31 Mar. 2017
The lower reaches run through the Gran Chaco—a hot, semiarid lowland also known as the Chaco Plain—and form a 518-mile (834-kilometer) international border between Argentina and Paraguay.

— aaron sidder, National Geographic, "Wildlife Dying En Masse as South American River Runs Dry," 22 July 2016
High on Bolivia’s semiarid Andean plains at more than 12,000 feet and subject to climatic whims, the shallow saline lake has dried up before only to rebound to a size twice the area of Los Angeles.

— the associated press, New York Times, "A Lake in Bolivia Evaporates, and With It a Way of Life," 23 Jan. 2016

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