Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A tract of grassland, either in its natural state or used as pasture or for growing hay.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A low, level tract of land under grass, and generally mown annually or oftener for hay; also, a piece of grass-land in general, whether used for the raising of hay or as pasture-land.
  • noun A feeding-ground of fish, as cod.
  • noun An icefield or floe on which seals herd.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A tract of low or level land producing grass which is mown for hay; any field on which grass is grown for hay.
  • noun Low land covered with coarse grass or rank herbage near rives and in marshy places by the sea.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to a meadow; of the nature of a meadow; produced, growing, or living in, a meadow.
  • adjective (Bot.) Same as Deergrass.
  • adjective (Bot.) a valuable pasture grass (Alopecurus pratensis) resembling timothy, but with softer spikes.
  • adjective [Local, U. S.] a coarse grass, or true sedge, growing in uncultivated swamp or river meadow; -- used as fodder or bedding for cattle, packing for ice, etc.
  • adjective (Zoöl.) The clapper rail.
  • adjective (Zoöl.) any mouse of the genus Arvicola, as the common American species Arvicola riparia; -- called also field mouse, and field vole.
  • adjective (Zoöl.) an American ribbed mussel (Modiola plicatula), very abundant in salt marshes.
  • adjective (Min.) bog-iron ore , a kind of limonite.
  • adjective (Bot.) See under Parsnip.
  • adjective (Bot.) See under Pink.
  • adjective (Zoöl.) a small singing bird of the genus Anthus, as Anthus pratensis, of Europe.
  • adjective (Bot.) a delicate early plant, of the genus Thalictrum, having compound leaves and numerous white flowers. There are many species.
  • adjective (Bot.) See under Saffron.
  • adjective (Bot.) See under Sage.
  • adjective (Bot.) an umbelliferous plant of Europe (Silaus pratensis), somewhat resembling fennel.
  • adjective (Zoöl.) the common or jack snipe.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A field or pasture; a piece of land covered or cultivated with grass, usually intended to be mown for hay; an area of low lying vegetation, especially near a river.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a field where grass or alfalfa are grown to be made into hay

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English medwe, medoue, from Old English mǣdwe, oblique case of mǣd; see mē- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English mǣdwe, inflected form of mǣd (see mead), from Proto-Germanic *mēdwō (compare West Frisian miede, Dutch dialect made, dialectal German Matte ("mountain pasture")), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂met- ‘to mow, reap’ (compare Welsh medi, Latin metere, Ancient Greek ámētos ("reaping")), englargement of *h₂meh₁-. More at mow.

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Examples

  • Alone in rural Texas and with barely anything to eat, she retreats further and further into the world of her imagination – a world where she converses with fireflies and dismembered Barbie doll heads, a world where the meadow is the bottom of the ocean and a great shark swims about, a world where ghosts and frightening Bog Men are on the loose.

    Archive 2007-09-01 2007

  • Alone in rural Texas and with barely anything to eat, she retreats further and further into the world of her imagination – a world where she converses with fireflies and dismembered Barbie doll heads, a world where the meadow is the bottom of the ocean and a great shark swims about, a world where ghosts and frightening Bog Men are on the loose.

    Tideland by Mitch Cullin 2007

  • But a meadow is a delicate embroidery in colors, which you must examine closely to understand all its merits; the nearer you are, the better.

    Rural Hours 1887

  • In the “Meadow” suite, the bed in the center of the meadow is surrounded by a canopy of trees under the “New Moon.”

    TWILIGHT SAGA NEWS FOR NOVEMBER 9TH | Open Society Book Club Discussions and Reviews 2009

  • If the meadow is turned into anything except a meadow, it should be an outdoor wedding chapel for those couples TRULY in love!!!

    Twilight Lexicon » The Larry and Kevin Meadow Revitalization Project 2010

  • I vote most of the dialogue from the high mountain meadow between Rooster Cogburn and Lucky Ned Pepper just before the horseback shootout in True Grit.

    Greatest movie line ever 2009

  • I vote most of the dialogue from the high mountain meadow between Rooster Cogburn and Lucky Ned Pepper just before the horseback shootout in True Grit.

    Greatest movie line ever 2009

  • The meadow is chapter 12 (“Balancing”) and chapter 13 (“Confessions”).

    Twilight Lexicon » EW Has Some Twilight Trivia 2008

  • How can you feel discouraged when sitting on a beautiful mountain meadow, looking at a high country lake with bald eagles flying around you?!

    Field Scrapbook 2007

  • The bend meadow is in no hurry; it will take corn, I guess.

    The Hills of the Shatemuc 1856

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