Thesaurus results for PLAINS

plains

noun

Definition of plains

plural of plain

as in prairies

a broad area of level or rolling treeless country the first settlers in that area lived on the vast plains in lonely log cabins

Synonyms & Similar Words

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as in expanses

a wide space or area the vast plains of snow-covered earth that seemed to stretch endlessly

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of plains Thousands of turbines already stand across the plains and high desert. — Harry Bruinius, Christian Science Monitor, 28 Sep. 2026 The plains were a far smoother ride, and both our joints and the Jeep’s suspension settled down to coast over kilometres of unbroken grassland. — Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2026 The fertile plains of Punjab are a world apart from the Appalachian Mountains, to which country music traces its roots. — Harmeet Kaur, CNN Money, 19 Sep. 2026 Conversely, Florida beat up on Florida Atlantic to open the season, then scheduled an FCS beatdown as its tune-up before heading to the plains. — Noah White, Miami Herald, 17 Sep. 2026 Meanwhile, on Monday night, severe thunderstorms and damaging wind gusts between 70 and 83 miles per hour took down power lines and trees in the plains of Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. — ABC News, 15 Sep. 2026 This year they’ve been spotted on the plains more than an hour’s drive east of Colorado Springs. — Brittany Peterson, Fortune, 8 Sep. 2026 The last flyby, in January 2025, yielded stunning photos of Mercury’s impact craters and volcanic plains. — Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026 The girls live on the plains in an isolated community largely dominated by taciturn male farmers and hunters. — Vikram Murthi, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for plains

Noun

Over his shoulder was an enormous portrait of the hatchet-wielding temperance crusader Carrie Nation, an icon of resistance to the excesses of the first Gilded Age, when similar discontent had roiled the prairies.

— Kyle Paoletta, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026
Yet the black-footed ferret remains the face of conservation of the prairies.

— Shi En Kim, AZCentral.com, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of prairies

Noun

With its affinities for isolation and, at times, imposing scale, Land art conjures archaeology and the geological sublime—vast expanses of space and time.

— Jeffrey Weiss, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
Arid canyons and rocky expanses with little vegetation are conducive to flash flooding and the tropical weather adds more risk, said Andrew Mangham, senior service hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

— Martín Silva Rey, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of expanses

Noun

The two tortoises on board were, appropriately, Russian steppes tortoises, NASA has said.

— Tariq Malik, Space.com, 15 Sep. 2026
Historical legacy is not destiny, and Russia’s excesses cannot be blamed solely on its ties to the political culture of the steppes.

— Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of steppes

Noun

That means network expansions or grid updates will remain as hurdles for large-scale adoption.

— ABC News, ABC News, 24 Sep. 2026
But residents argued that neighborhoods along the corridor already bore the brunt of highway expansions in the 1960s, which included displacement of minority communities in McCrorey Heights and Biddleville.

— DJ Simmons, Charlotte Observer, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of expansions

Noun

More than 85% of the world’s wetlands are gone, according to researchers, and North America has already lost more than half its grasslands.

— Story Hinckley, Christian Science Monitor, 23 Sep. 2026
Up to a million wild black-footed ferrets once bounded in the grasslands from Canada to Mexico, between Arizona and Kansas.

— Shi En Kim, AZCentral.com, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of grasslands

Noun

The center of the activities was a grove, within a ring of trees, considered to be one of the oldest oak savannas in the state.

— Gregory Harutunian, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2026
The new property is nestled inside a 45,000-acre private conservancy with open savannahs and waterholes nearby.

— Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 8 July 2026

Definition of savannas

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plains

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“Plains.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plains. Accessed 2 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of plains

noun

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