Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A vast semiarid grass-covered plain, as found in southeast Europe, Siberia, and central North America.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In phytogeography, xerophilous grassland. This formation as met, with at high elevations is distinguished as alpine steppe.
- noun A more or less level tract devoid of trees: a name given to certain parts of European and Asiatic Russia, of which the most characteristic feature is the absence of forests.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun One of the vast plains in Southeastern Europe and in Asia, generally elevated, and free from wood, analogous to many of the prairies in Western North America. See
savanna . - noun (Far.) See
Rinderpest .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The grasslands of Eastern Europe and Asia. Similar to (US)
prairie and (African)savannah . - noun More properly, the name given vast cold, dry grass-plains.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun extensive plain without trees (associated with eastern Russia and Siberia)
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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With its famous black soil, the Ukrainian steppe is one of the most fertile regions in world but the legacy of Soviet collectivisation means agriculture is not as efficient as in other countries.
Grain oligarch says grain price rises 'hysterical' Zoe Wood 2010
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The word steppe, or step, is Russian, and not Tartarian.
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The word steppe, or step, is Russian, and not Tartarian.
Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 — Volume 2 Alexander von Humboldt 1814
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Generally, the steppe is a transitional belt surrounding the desert and separating it from humid climates beyond.
Dry Domain (Bailey) 2009
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The steppe was a vast plain that shone with ponds and corkscrew rivers and evoked a wistful sadness.
Wolves Eat Dogs Smith, Martin Cruz, 1942- 2004
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It is a great chalky plateau, and might almost be called a steppe or prairie.
Expositions of Holy Scripture Alexander Maclaren 1868
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The one major geographic feature other than the steppe are the Tien Shan mountains, a range that divides Central Asia from South Asia and China.
Webmaster Forum deepsand 2010
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The collembolan Vertagopus brevicaudus a "steppe" species; bbizonal steppe and tundra species; cthis group characterizes the southern tundra subzone; dthis group is relatively small, but is valuable in subdividing the tundra zone into subzones.
Implications of current species distributions for future biotic change in the Arctic 2009
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The potential natural vegetation is mostly sagebrush steppe which is distinct from that of the surrounding ecoregions.
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On the higher plateau, the vegetation comprises different steppe types depending on edaphic factors, such as steppe of Stipa tenacissima in the sides of the Atlas and glacis with argilo-sandy soils; steppe of Artemisia "Herba alba" in the glacis and depressions that are silty; steppe of Lygeum spartum which follows sandy accumulations.
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