steppe

noun \ ˈstep \

|Updated on: 17 Jun 2018

Examples: steppe in a Sentence

Definition of steppe

1 : one of the vast usually level and treeless tracts in southeastern Europe or Asia

2 : arid land with xerophilous vegetation found usually in regions of extreme temperature range and loess soil

See steppe defined for English-language learners

See steppe defined for kids

Examples of steppe in a Sentence

nomads have long grazed yaks on the steppes of Mongolia

Recent Examples of steppe from the Web

Overnight at Eolo Lodge in the steppes of Southern Patagonia, Province of Santa Cruz, Argentina.

— maita barrenechea, Town & Country, "How to Plan a Trip to South America," 5 Oct. 2016
Great bustards make their habitats in open, flat grasslands and steppes of Europe and southern Russia.

— National Geographic, "The Biggest Bird That Ever Lived and 5 More Bird Superstars," 15 May 2018
The unearthly chorus this makes—think of a mobile orchestra of chicken-sized didgeridoos—rises up from the vast and glorious Wyoming steppe.

— The Economist, "The parable of the sage grouse," 3 May 2018
Meanwhile, herders from the Eurasian steppe moved into the northern part of the subcontinent and mixed with Indus periphery people still there, forming the Ancestral North Indian population.

— lizzie wade, Science | AAAS, "South Asians are descended from a mix of farmers, herders, and hunter-gatherers, ancient DNA reveals," 18 Apr. 2018
Furthermore, the antelopes have evolved specific mechanisms to deal with cycles of weather extremes in the Eurasian steppe, including their Seussian trunks, which facilitate heat exchange and keep out dust.

— steph yin, New York Times, "A Wet and Warm Spring, Then 200,000 Dead Saigas," 17 Jan. 2018
In its place, new waves of migration and conquest, interbreeding and replacement, swept westward across the steppe.

— kiona n. smith, Ars Technica, "Tracing how horse domestication turned the Eurasian Steppe into a highway," 11 May 2018
After Egypt will come Persia, then Mesopotamia, Anatolia, the Levant, Central and South Asia and the Eurasian steppes.

— edward rothstein, WSJ, "‘Beyond the Nile: Egypt and the Classical World’ Review: A Cross-Cultural Journey Begins," 31 Mar. 2018
Bereaved and exiled by traitors, the hero Guo Jing grows up on the Mongolian steppes.

— The Economist, "A martial-arts mega-hit finally arrives in English," 22 Feb. 2018

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

Origin and Etymology of steppe

Russian step'

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1671

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

steppe Synonyms

Synonyms

champaign, down(s), grassland, heath, lea (or ley), llano, moor, pampa, plain, prairie, savanna (also savannah), tundra, veld (or veldt);

Related Words

field, meadow;

floodplain;

bottom, bottomland, flat, lowland;

plateau, table, tableland, upland;

Other Geology Terms

anthracite, boulder, cwm, erratic, igneous, intrusive, mesa, sedimentary, silt, swale

STEPPE Defined for English Language Learners

steppe

noun

Definition of steppe for English Language Learners

: a large, flat area of land with grass and very few trees especially in eastern Europe and Asia

STEPPE Defined for Kids

steppe

noun \ ˈstep \

Definition of steppe for Students

: land that is dry, rather level, mostly treeless, and covered with grass in regions (as parts of Asia and southeastern Europe) with usually hot summers and cold winters