Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An area covered by a dense growth of mostly small-leaved evergreen shrubs, especially in central and southern California.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A close growth, more or less extensive, of low evergreen oaks.
- noun Any very dense thicket of low thorny shrubs which exclusively occupy the ground; sometimes, a thick growth of cacti.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A thicket of low evergreen oaks.
- noun An almost impenetrable thicket or succession of thickets of thorny shrubs and brambles.
- noun (Zoöl.) a bird of the cuckoo family (
Geococcyx Californianus ), noted for running with great speed. It ranges from California to Mexico and eastward to Texas; -- called alsoroad runner ,ground cuckoo ,churea , andsnake killer . It is the state bird of New Mexico.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A region of
shrubs , typicallydry in thesummer andrainy in thewinter . The coast of theMediterranean is such a region.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun dense vegetation consisting of stunted trees or bushes
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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On steep hill and mountain slopes too dry to support oak woodland or oak forest, much of the vegetation is scrub or "dwarf forest" know as chaparral, which varies in composition with elevation and exposure.
California Coastal Chaparral Forest and Shrub Province (Bailey) 2009
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She is a lovely woman, and her chaparral is a delight; even if it was slightly surreal smelling this distillation of California with it's herbal woodiness and hint of wildfires with the smell of actual wildfires so prominent in the air.
Fiddling while Rome burns Marina Geigert 2008
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She is a lovely woman, and her chaparral is a delight; even if it was slightly surreal smelling this distillation of California with it's herbal woodiness and hint of wildfires with the smell of actual wildfires so prominent in the air.
Archive 2008-11-01 Marina Geigert 2008
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Well the area of Greece, particularly Crete, is a typical location where you have what is called a chaparral environment or biome.
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The Mediterranean California region is characterized by a mostly evergreen shrub vegetation called chaparral, plus patches of oak woodland, grassland, and some coniferous forest on upper mountain slopes.
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In many cases a plant called chaparral or it's scrub oaks or it's the low grasses that grow with it.
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Those who build and buy homes amidst chaparral, which is found on the south slope of the mountain adjacent to the city of San Bernardino, are asking for trouble.
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The Mediterranean forests, woodlands and scrub biome (also called chaparral) has a very specific spatial distribution.
Terrestrial biome 2007
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There were also thick, gray thornbushes called chaparral, interlaced amid the equally thorny mesquite.
The Lonesome Dove Series Larry McMurtry 1995
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There were also thick, gray thornbushes called chaparral, interlaced amid the equally thorny mesquite.
Streets of Laredo Larry McMurtry 1993
pterodactyl commented on the word chaparral
Every time I hear this word, I remember a piece of music, with a very particular rhythm:
"Chaparral!" (pause, pause, pause)
"Chaparral!" (pause, pause, pause)
Until today, I had no idea why this was. I mean, who would write a song about Californian shrubbery? But now, I've figured it out. It's a distorted relic of my childhood, and you can view it here, if you've no aversion to bagpipes.
July 5, 2008
yarb commented on the word chaparral
Citation on arroyo.
August 26, 2008
Wordplayer commented on the word chaparral
Missed by nine people at the 2011 county spelling bee!
March 18, 2011
ruzuzu commented on the word chaparral
I can't get pterodactyl's link to work. :-(
March 18, 2011
pterodactyl commented on the word chaparral
Here, ruzuzu, try this link. I guarantee you will never hear the word "chaparral" the same way again. :-)
March 19, 2011
ruzuzu commented on the word chaparral
Hahaha! Okay. I get it now.
March 19, 2011