释义 |
prairien. Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French prairie. Etymology: < French prairie tract of meadow land (c1150 in Old French as praierie ) < post-classical Latin prataria (9th cent.) < pratarius (adjective) of the nature of a meadow (9th cent.) ( < classical Latin prātum meadow (see pratal adj.) + -ārius -ary suffix1) + -ia -y suffix3. Compare post-classical Latin praria (12th cent.), praeria , praieria (13th cent. in British and continental sources), Old Occitan pradaria (c1200; Occitan pradariá ), Catalan praderia (13th cent.), Spanish pradería (14th cent.; earlier pradera (13th cent.)), Portuguese pradaria (1611 as praderia ), Italian prateria (c1336). Compare earlier praiere n.Compare the following for use of the French word in an English context with reference to North America:1752 W. Douglass Brit. Settlem. N.-Amer. II. xii. 261 From these great Falls the Route to Montreal in Canada is..to Crown Point a French Fort and Pass near Lake Champlain, then along this Lake to Chamblais River and a little above Chamblais..cross la Prairie to Montreal. Chiefly North American. the world > the earth > land > landscape > level land > [noun] > level place or plain > in specific country α. a1682 Sir T. Browne (1684) 201 The Prerie or large Sea-meadow upon the Coast of Provence. 1761 R. Gardiner 14 An Entrenchment was thrown up in the Prairie (or Meadow) of Monsieur Hichè. 1773 P. Kennedy Jrnl. in T. Hutchins (1778) 54 The Prairie, or meadow ground on the eastern side, is at least twenty miles wide. 1787 J. Harmar in E. Denny (1860) 423 The prairies are very extensive, natural meadows, covered with long grass,..like the ocean, as far as the eye can see, the view is terminated by the horizon. 1794 W. Clark Jrnl. 1 Aug. in (1914) 1 421 An open..Pararie..handsomly interspersed with Small Copse of Trees. 1805 Z. M. Pike (1810) 7 Four hundred yards in the rear, there is a small prairie of 8 or 10 acres, which would be a convenient spot for gardens. 1815 R. Southey in 12 326 A large Oak tree stands alone in a prairie... (Note. If this word be merely a French synonime for savannah, which has long been naturalized, the Americans display little taste in preferring it.) c1834 H. Evans in (1925) III. 181 We could look and behold..one continual large expanse of Pararie. 1861 P. B. Du Chaillu xvi. 275 We were troubled..on the prairie by two very savage flies, called by the negroes the boco and the nchouna. 1907 J. W. Schultz xxxi. 362 I had never seen the buffalo more plentiful..the prairie was black with them. 1951 W. O'Meara xxxiii. 214 Only a few inches of dry, fine snow lay on the prairie. 1993 Nov. 103/1 (advt.) Only rugged men could drive great herds of cattle across endless miles of Western prairie. β. 1791 D. Bradley 19 Sept. (1935) 17 A prairia of two or three hundred acres where the grass or wild oats is 8 or 10 feet high and very thick.1795 J. Smith in (1907) 14 380 We saw several pararas, as they are called. They are large tracts of fine, rich land, without trees and producing as fine grass as the best meadows.1819 E. Dana 37 The ore is dug from an open praira.1858 S. A. Hammett 42 A feller that kin find his way..across the perara.1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ II. xi. 190 Wait here; you'll want suthin, may be, on the peraira. If ye do, boy! Jim made good shootin' with this, ye mind.the world > the earth > land > landscape > marsh, bog, or swamp > [noun] the world > the earth > water > lake > [noun] > other types 1820 C. H. Wilson App. 103 Those prairies, being swampy, or in plain English, boggy land, exhale agues and fevers innumerable. 1875 10 Dec. This prairie, so called..stretched for miles north and south of us, and was covered about twelve or fifteen inches in water, and under the water was a soft muck into which we would bog from six to twelve inches. 1916 4 270 Prairie, n., marsh. (Barataria Bay.) 1934 65 601 Shallow ponds, or ‘prairies’, with a tropical tangle of vegetation. 1942 M. K. Rawlings 51 We use the word ‘prairie’ in a special sense. We have no open plains, but around most of the larger lakes are wet flat areas thick with water grasses, and these we call our prairies. They are more nearly marshes, yet we save the word ‘marsh’ for the deep mucky edges of lake and river, dense with coontail and lily pads. 1993 Jan. 19/2 Pirogues, mud boats or ‘go-devils’ are the recommended means of travel in the prairie. society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [noun] > locomotive > steam locomotive > other types of steam locomotive 1900 29 May 7/2 New style locomotive..will arrive in Lincoln sometime today... It is of a style called the ‘prairie’ engine... The grate area is forty-two square feet... This enables the ‘prairie’ engine to burn a lower grade of fuel. 1911 31 May 27/3 The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé Railroad has recently converted two Prairie type freight locomotives into a single Mallet locomotive. 1945 J. L. Marshall xvii. 281 Over a twisting track..Fred Jackson took the..big, high-wheeled prairie engine, around the curves at sixty-five miles an hour. 1981 B. Carter (1982) xxxiv. 221 The metal shelf shook and vibrated and the ‘prairie’ rolled on. 1995 N. Whittaker (1996) xxvi. 201 (caption) A prairie tank runs ‘tender first’out of Bridgnorth on the Severn Valley Railway. 2003 D. Borsvold 44 The Prairies were developed in the late nineteenth century as a more powerful successor to the 4-4-0 Americans. Compounds C1. General attributive. 1806 (1852) 9th Congress 2 Sess., App. 1136 The quality of the land is supposed superior to that on Red river, until it ascends to the prairie country, where the lands on both rivers are probably similar. 1907 W. O. Lillibridge 152 The darkness that precedes morning has the prairie country in its grip. 1992 (BNC) 13 The finds from a Canadian village have led the organisers to postulate that the ‘prairie country’ of Norse myth may have been Newfoundland. 1851 M. Reid I. iii. 33 An insight into many an item of prairie-craft. 1894 Feb. 466/1 His unsurpassed marksmanship, pedestrianism, wood-craft, prairie-craft, hunter-craft, and Indian craft. 2003 (Nexis) 20 June 1 b The festival will include pioneer games, prairie crafts, Dutch oven cooking and wildlife puppet shows for kids. 1838 H. W. Ellsworth v. 49 A late and lamented brother of the writer, who had just finished a prairie farm. 1884 ‘M. Twain’ vii. 57 Hogs soon went wild in them bottoms after they had got away from the prairie farms. 1993 Feb. 30/1 Western Canada was especially hard hit... Prairie farms were drought-stricken. 1830 T. Flint II. xi. 197 A blighted prairie flower, cut down under the withering of a summer's sun. 1894 Aug. 422/1 To be sure there were patches of orange prairie flowers all about. 1990 J. Hudson (1992) iii. 41 On the flatter cutting ground toward the river, the greater moisture and soil had covered hundreds of corpses with prairie flowers. 1829 26 Sept. 3/3 Four Sacks of Prairie Hay. 1880 D. Currie 6/2 They [sc. horses] are being fed with prairie hay. 1979 G. MacEwan (1981) xvii. 129 Burns cut and stacked large amounts of prairie hay for winter feeding. 1808 in Z. M. Pike (1810) ii. App. 4 The..river is bounded here in a narrow bed of prairie hills. 1873 Mar. 207/1 A seemingly endless range of prairie hill, covered with naught but the rank animal grasses. 1977 W. K. Powers (1982) vii. 84 At one time a great flood visited the western plains. Many tribes came to the prairie hills to escape from the rising waters. 1848 G. Lippard i.10/2 Harry sat in silence on the edge of the Prairie knoll, his slender form couched artlessly on the tall thick grass. 1868 G. A. McCall 418 The abrupt prairie knolls,..seem in the distance to elevate their rocky summits. 1976 95 314 A complex network of interconnected marshes that, together with several low prairie knolls, makes up this state wildlife management area. 1804 P. Gass 2 Sept. (1807) 34 There is handsome prairie land on the south. 1907 29 July 15/3 Half a century ago, before the prairie lands had been broken up for cereal cultivation. 1992 A. W. Eckert 917 The isolated groves of dense forest that existed here and there in the vast prairie lands extending from northern Ohio westward. 1852 J. Richardson 365 Its bed is in many places deeply cut beneath the level of the prairie plateau, which is not separated by any marked ridge from the Saskatchewan prairie country. 1908 3 Aug. 8/3 Included in the plans is a tract of prairie plateau in southern Alberta. 2003 Spring–Summer 31/2 Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park boasts high prairie plateaus that reach nearly 1,500 metres above sea level. 1882 O. Coomes in No. 260. 1 (title) Dare-devil Dan, the young prairie ranger; or, Old Rosebud's Boy Brigade. 1885 13 Aug. 5/4 (headline) Victims of cheap literature. The escapade of two ‘prairie rangers’. 1895 26 475/2 The Southern California clubs..express a positive dislike for bronchos, cayuses, cow-ponies and prairie rangers of any and all sorts. 1909 4 July A realistic scene in which it [sc. a coach] figured in the olden days by being realistically attacked by Indians and rescued by the prairie rangers. 1999 (Nexis) 5 May People..get themselves into huge debt for some lumbering four-wheel-drive, a big kids' toy with ‘prairie ranger’ or ‘street trooper’ or equally ludicrous nonsense plastered on its paintwork. 1830 W. J. Snelling vi. 143 He continued, pointing to a distant strip of wood, such as always fringes the border of a prairie stream. 1909 W. A. White iii. 32 At night they camped by the prairie streams, and the men sang and wondered what they were doing at home. 2000 45 1025/2 Ammonium uptake in Upper Ball Creek had mass transfer coefficients similar to those found in an autotrophic, prairie stream. 1848 11 Mar. 195/4 Large numbers are to join them in the Spring when Pella will suddenly become a populous prairie town. 1908 28 Mar. 11/1 ‘If you go as far as Winnipeg, you'll see the finest hotel in all the world.’ ‘Nonsense!’ he said. ‘You're pulling my leg! Winnipeg's a prairie-town.’ 1994 Spring 25/1 Milestone is much like any prairie town. 1851 M. Reid II. xii. 201 A life spent beneath the blue heaven of the prairie-uplands and the mountain ‘parks’. 1926 2 432 The broad valleys, and the vast stretches of the level prairie upland contain deep, rich, productive soil, capable of yielding a great variety of crops. 2000 D. Shutler et al. in 14 1441 (title) Bird communities of prairie uplands and wetlands in relation to farming practices in Saskatchewan. C2. 1890 Prairie-alligator, an insect of the family Phasmidæ;..usually the thick-thighed walking-stick, Diapheromera femorata. 1894 Scudder in Feb. 456 The form..dubbed ‘stick-bogs’ and ‘prairie alligators’, our Diapheromera femorata. 2005 (Nexis) 15 May (Tropicalia Mag.) 6 r Anisomorpha buprestoides... Variously known as the devil's riding horse, prairie alligator, stick bug, witch's horse, devil's darning needle, scorpion, and musk mare, the twostriped walking stick is one of about 2,000 species in the world. 1820 in (1908–11) 3 21 The guide today gave me what he called pome de prairie (prairie apple) which he found & which he says the Indians are very fond of—I ate of it; its taste resembling that of a buckeye nut, its shape a pear. 1872 VII. 820/1 P[soralea] esculenta, the Bread-root of North America, and Prairie Apple of the Canadian boatmen, is an herbaceous perennial..with a carrot-like root. 1939 26 530/1 (caption) Astragalus crassicarpus Nutt. (prairie apple) growing on the Chugwater formation of the Triassic system about 7 miles east of Laramie. 1993 T. Coffey 130/1 Breadroot, Pediomelum esculentum... Prairie-Apple, Prairie-Potato, Prairie-Turnip, Scurf-Pea, Tipsin (S. Dak.). 1805 M. Lewis Jrnl. 12 May in (1987) IV. 146 The Indians of the Missouri make great uce of this cherry..boiling them with roots or meat, or with the prairie beans and white-apple. 1885 V. Havard 501 Phaseolus retusus (Prairie Bean.) Common on prairies west of the Pecos. 1932 P. A. Rydberg 454 Thermopsis R. Br. Yellow Pea, Golden Pea, Prairie Bean. 1972 J. Minifie xii. 93 The yellow prairie bean, just rampaging into flower in every buffalo-wallow. 1848 J. R. Bartlett 260 Prairie-bitters, a beverage common among the hunters and mountaineers. 1862 R. F. Burton (ed. 2) 50 ‘Prairie bitters’—made with..water and a quarter of a gill of buffalo gall—are considered an elixir vitæ by old voyageurs. 1872 M. S. De Vere 100 The Prairie Bitters, a horrible mixture of water and buffalo-gall, to which great medicinal powers are ascribed by hunters and border-settlers. the world > the earth > land > landscape > level land > [noun] > level place or plain > in specific country > type of 1805 P. Gass Jrnl. 21 July in (1996) X. 115 We..encamped on the south side, on a beautiful prairie bottom. 1875 9 The main valley of the Yellowstone..is a prairie-bottom with some good grazing. 1923 16 Mar. 14/3 Far up the prairie bottom numerous ricks of hay loomed up to sight. 1992 P. T. Stroud v. 87 After traveling some seven miles they encamped beside a small creek in a narrow but beautiful prairie bottom. 1888 G. Trumbull 12 Anser albifrons gambeli... Known in..the West as Prairie Brant, Speckled Belly, and Speckled Brant,..or Brant simply. 1950 (ed. 2) 244/3 Gray or prairie brant [refers] to the American white-fronted goose. the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > ploughing equipment > [noun] > plough > other types of plough 1857 J. Stirling 11 Here the pioneer is not the backwoodsman with his axe, but the ‘prairie-breaker’ with his team and plough. 1859 19 Aug. 1/3 Skinner's Anti-Friction Plow... As a prairie breaker it literally has no rival. 1897 I. P. Roberts ii. 53 One of the old-style prairie-breakers, with the beam nine to ten feet long, and capable of withstanding almost any amount of strain. 1941 49 341 The plow used was commonly a heavy, specialized, prairie-breaker, pulled by three to eight yoke of oxen. 1992 (Nexis) 18 May 66 In 1837 John Deere forged his first steel plow, ‘the Prairie breaker’. the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > ploughing > [noun] the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > land suitable for cultivation > [noun] > broken land > arable or ploughed land 1845 21 Aug. (advt.) Manufacturer of steel and prairie breaking plows and other farming utensils. 1861 4 37 The plows were running..too deep for ordinary prairie breaking. 1879 Nov. 132/2 It is only by resorting to figures that one can reach a comprehension of the aggregate extent of these long, narrow, black strips of ‘prairie-breaking’. 1941 49 339 Forest-clearing was most generally done by the farm-maker himself while prairie-breaking was very frequently performed by professional breakers on contract. 1986 52 100 They also needed forest land for their fields, since they lacked heavy ‘prairie-breaking’ plows to turn the grassland soils. the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > subfamily Bovinae (bovine) > [noun] > genus Bison > Bison bison (bison) > varieties of 1806 M. Lewis Jrnl. 29 May in (1991) VII. 302 A speceis of Lizzard called by the French engages prarie buffalo are native of these plains as well as those of the Missouri. I have called them the horned Lizzard. 1853 Apr. 382 No sooner does my lord..set his foot on our shores—in search of a ‘sensation’, hunting Rocky Mountain bears or prairie buffalo..—than, at once, he is surrounded by gaping and obsequious..republicans. 1908 C. Mair 178 Mr. P. Deschambeault remembers seeing, in the early fifties of the last century, two fine albino examples of the prairie buffalo. 2003 July 62/1 There have been innumerable hikes through prairie-buffalo ranges and mountain-goat hideaways. 1847 A. Wood (ed. 2) 336 S. Terebinthinaceum. Prairie Burdock... Prairies, Western..and Southern States. 1906 E. W. Hilgard xxv. 514 The lower ground is characterized..among herbs by the polar plant (Silphium laciniatum), the prairie burdock (S. terebinthinaceum), [etc.]. 1993 T. Coffey 276/1 Prairie Dock, Silphium terebenthinaceum... Prairie-Burdock, Rosin-Plant, Rosinweed. the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > ploughing equipment > [noun] > plough > other types of plough 1943 4 Jan. 6 (caption) This picture..shows a ‘Prairie Buster’ being used to break up land. 1952 J. W. Day viii. 94 On one tract..which was recently broken up, a very good job was made by a three-furrow prairie-buster hauled by a tracklayer. 2002 (Nexis) 19 Aug. a10 Grandma raised a dry-land garden, Milked many a cranky cow, Half-broke' broncos pulled her wagon And their ‘prairie buster’ plow. society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > cart, carriage, or wagon > [noun] > covered > as used by emigrants in America 1870 De B. R. Keim 49 The coaches or ‘prairie clippers’, as they are called by the denizens of the country, pitched and jolted. 1939 S. Vestal 5 He proposed to build—with their backing—a fleet of large prairie clippers to carry cargo to the cussed Spaniards. 1948 14 Aug. (Suppl.) The stranger proposed to navigate with a fleet of prairie clippers equipped with sails and steering gear. the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > leguminous plants > [noun] > other leguminous plants 1857 A. Gray 95 Petalostemon, Prairie Clover... Chiefly perennial herbs,..[with] small flowers. 1939 Aug. 247/2 Prairie clovers may be white, pink, purple, or violet. 1984 T. F. Niehaus 94 Scruffy Prairie Clover, Dalea albiflora... Many habitats. Ariz. and southwestern half of N. M. society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > other organic fuels > [noun] > dung 1889 26 Apr. For fuel..the cowboy's cook prefers the ancient buffalo chips, which he calls Kansas or prairie coal. 1939 C. L. Douglas 324 He could not bring himself to relish food cooked with ‘prairie coal’. 1972 J. M. Minifie vii. 51 As he walked he collected horse-dung for his cook-fire. Weathered ‘prairie coal’ makes a quick, hot fire. 2000 (Nexis) 20 Aug. b4 When wood was scarce, Cookie prepared food over a campfire fueled with the dried cow droppings the cowboys called prairie coal. the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Tetraonidae (grouse) > [noun] > genus Tympanuchus > tympanuchus cupido (prairie-chicken) 1805 W. Clark Jrnl. 17 Oct. in (1988) V. 287 Send out Hunters to Shute the Prarie Cock a large fowl which I have only Seen on this river. 1876 J. Burroughs v. 115 The prairie hens or prairie cocks set up that low musical cooing or crowing. 1900 H. Garland 107 A belated prairie cock began to boom. 1953 28 283 (table) Name..Prairie cock..Bird..Prairie chicken..Known Distribution of the Name..Minn. 1890 Prairie-cocktail, a raw egg, peppered and salted, and drunk in vinegar or spirits. 1920 22 Aug. 8/2 A prairie-Cocktail is an egg seasoned with pepper, salt and vinegar and taken raw. 2001 (Nexis) 15 May e4 The term prairie oyster, also known as prairie cocktail, was believed by some bartenders to be a cure for the hiccups. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > buttercup and allied flowers > anemones 1896 9 179 Anemone Pulsatilla (?), prairie crocus, Mont., Colo., and N. Dak. 1922 A. Stringer 304 Prairie-crocuses [are] soft blue and lavender and sometimes mauve. 1995 Aug.–Sept. 4/1 Before long the pasture and road allowances were covered with prairie crocuses, buttercups and three-flowered avens. 1875 J. Hay Prairie in B. N. Martin (ed. 2) 515 Prairie-cups are swinging free To spill their airy wine. 1857 VIII. 477 The difference between the oak opening deer mouse (michiganensis) and the prairie deer mouse (bairdii). 1915 3 18 Steppe species:—..striped ground squirrel.., prairie deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus bairdi H. and K.), prairie red-backed vole.., [etc.]. 1999 B. 266 2121/2 The prairie deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus bairdi)..is genetically programmed to live in only one habitat type. 1838 I. A. Lapham 13 Silphium gumni erum. terebinthenaceum [sic], Prairie dock. 1890 J. S. Billings II. 383/2 Prairie dock, Parthenium integrifolium. 1908 B. L. Robinson & M. L. Fernald (ed. 7) 825 S. terebenthinaceum Jacq. (Prairie Dock.)... Prairies and oak-openings, Ont. and O. to Minn., and southw. 1949 14 Oct. 12/4 You can see the tall, brown stalks of the prairie dock standing erect but devoid of their bright yellow flowers. 2002 12 Sept. b6/1 The prairie dock rises like big green spears through the surrounding knee-high grasses. 1847 30 485 And three eggs which he found in the nest of a prairie dove. 1936 T. S. Roberts (ed. 2) I. 550 Its lovely Dove-like form and gentle, familiar ways appeal to the farmers of the west.., and by them it is known as the ‘Prairie Dove’ or ‘Prairie Pigeon’. 1977 J. Bull & J. Farrand 412 Migrating flocks of ‘Prairie Doves’ are still a familiar sight in spring on the southern plains. the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > [noun] > family Falconidae > genus Falco (falcon) > other types of 1858 S. F. Baird Birds (U.S. War Dept.: Rep. Explor. Route Pacific IX) ii. p. xxv, in (33rd Congr., 2nd Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. 91) Falco (Gennaia) polyagrus, Cassin. Prairie Falcon. Western North America. 1947 R. Bedichek xiii. 158 I once saw a young jack [rabbit] darting from cover to cover like an artful and seasoned dodger to avoid the stoops of a prairie falcon. 1994 Mar. 33/1 Twenty-two species of raptors—such as rare ferruginous hawks, golden eagles, prairie falcons..—make their home on this 15-mile stretch of the waterway. 1851 M. Reid I. iii. 33 I became intoxicated with the romance of my new life. I had caught the ‘prairie-fever’! 1921 May 323/1 He ain't to know no different but what Jack's got prairie fever. Mind you plum him up stiff. 1959 125 151 At the age of thirty ‘prairie fever’, then a common malady among well-to-do young British sportsmen..took him to the unsettled American prairies and mountains of the Upper Missouri and Yellowstone. 2000 (Nexis) 19 Nov. 5 t James Michener caught prairie fever and the inspiration for his novel Centennial from these wide-open spaces. 1818 Let. 17 Aug. in (1942) 1 129 The Prairie fly is about the size of a honey bee and about the colour with green heads and there is another kind that keeps in the Woods very large. 1852 J. Reynolds 332 A green prairie fly was the most numerous and annoying. 1916 A. H. Sanford xiv. 162 The woods gave protection from the storms of winter and the heat and troublesome prairie flies of summer. 1957 31 10/1 Settlers destroyed the prairie flies by burning the prairie grass in June instead of the fall. 1973 23 Sept. 6 d/3 Progress was slow because of cold winters and prairie flies that tortured horses in summer. 1858 Jan. 57 The mouth of the Kansas, where the unbroken prairie formation meets the river. 1907 F. E. Clements 226 In the prairie formation.., three characteristic societies of the spring aspect are the Astragalus, the Comandra, and the Lomatium societies. 1946 W. G. Wahlenberg App. XI. 315 Formation, Fayette. White sands and joint clays deposited by fresh or brackish water in a prairie formation of the Oligocene epoch. 1993 20 625/1 The boreal summergreen woodland and prairie formations..are in greater accordance with vegetation on the more detailed vegetation map. the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Tetraonidae (grouse) > [noun] > genus Tympanuchus > tympanuchus cupido (prairie-chicken) 1804 W. Clark Jrnl. 9 Jan. in (1986) 153 Killed Prary fowl. 1866 681 No person shall..kill, or take, or destroy any pinnated grouse, commonly called prairie fowl. 1893 A. Newton et al. 4 Sometimes they [sc. air-sacs] form large inflatable sacs on the throat, as, for instance, in the Prairie-fowls. 1999 12 July a11/1 Before stepping into the field, hunters must have a special permit to hunt these prairie fowl [sc. sage grouse]. the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [noun] > genus Vulpes > vulpes velox 1839 F. Marryat I. xvii. 206 [In statistical table of furs] Prairie fox..5,000. 1876 J. Burroughs iv. 108 The prairie fox, the cross fox, and the black or silver-gray fox, seem only varieties of the red fox. 1972 26 Nov. 3/1 The [hunting] season is closed year 'around on swift, or prairie fox, otter and black-footed ferret. 1888 G. Trumbull 4 Branta canadensis hutchinsii... In..North Carolina, Marsh Goose, and on the coast of Texas, Prairie Goose. 1973 15 Nov. 7/2 More than 135,000 geese of the Eastern Prairie Goose Flock flew over Iowa en route to winter refuge near Sumner, Mo. 2005 (Nexis) 28 Jan. (Sports section) 24 c They are northern prairie geese, hunted veterans who know better—most days—than to do lunch with decoys. the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > [noun] > names applied to various types of grass the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > [noun] > other grasses 1812 24 Nov. 2/3 In consequence of the Indians setting the prairie grass on fire. 1848 H. W. Herbert v. 30 Thus they advanced, now at a foot's pace, picking their ground where the soil was softest and the prairie grass longest. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ (1891) 267 The prairie-grass of America. 1933 F. P. Grove i. i. 11 Whereas elsewhere the greyish-green, silky prairie grass grew knee-high. 1984 T. McGuane iii. 36 Now he could look out through the tall wild prairie grasses on the stream bank. the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Tetraonidae (grouse) > [noun] > genus Tympanuchus > tympanuchus cupido (prairie-chicken) 1851 R. Glisan (1874) 88 The birds and animals most common to this country, that are good for food, are..prairie grouse, [etc.]. 1918 J. W. Schultz 127 [We saw] coveys of sage hens and prairie grouse. 1976 D. Blood i. ii. 133 Two kinds of prairie grouse, the sharp-tailed (often incorrectly called prairie chicken, or just chicken) and sage grouse may be encountered locally in the Rockies. 1999 Dec. 80/3 Let's say your pointer points quail, pheasant or prairie grouse, but sometimes tends to ‘creep’ on them. the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Lepus (hares) > lepus americanus (snowshoe hare) the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Lepus (hares) > lepus townsendii (jack-rabbit) 1840 E. Emmons (Mass. Zool. & Bot. Survey) 58 Lepus Virginianus. Harlan. Prairie Hare... This species is common throughout the New England States, and is known generally as the White Rabbit. 1846 G. R. Gibson 17 July (1935) 152 We also saw a prairie hare in a few miles of camp. They are double the size of the rabbit but made very much like it, in color a shade lighter, and in action its equal. 1912 E. T. Seton xxxv. 231 It was exactly like a Prairie Hare in all its manners, even to the method of holding its tail in running. 1961 H. H. T. Jackson 104 Lepus townsendii campanius... Vernacular names..prairie hare [etc.]. 2003 W. Mott vi. 114 With personalities as unalike as the shy prairie hare from his cunning cousin the mountain fox. the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > [noun] > family Falconidae > genus Falco (falcon) > falco sparverius 1817 E. P. Fordham Jrnl. 17 Dec. in (1906) viii. 143 Saw some prairie hawks, blue bodies, ash coloured belly and wings, tipped with black. 1907 W. O. Lillibridge 259 Swift as the swoop of a prairie hawk..the man's arms were about her. 1961 1 Sept. 11/1 Imperious, headstrong, wild as a prairie hawk, she had never seemed in fear of man or devil. 1857 17 Mar. (advt.) For the immediate and permanent cure of the Itch, Prairie Itch, and all other forms of this loathsome cutaneous disease. 1867 J. King 1034 A very remarkable disease, which appears to be not only of a contagious character, but also to exist epidemically; it has received several names, as, Indiana Itch, Illinois Itch, Prairie Itch, Seven-year Itch, Camp Itch, Army Itch, etc. 1910 J. N. Hyde (ed. 8) 779 Prairie Itch, this is a popular term applied largely in the Western, Northwestern, and Southern States of America to a cutaneous affection productive of itching sensations. 1961 W. O. Mitchell 105 I had the measles and the prairie itch once and the mumps on both sides. 1996 Sept. 19/2 Prairie itch—a dermatitis produced by contact with nasty micro-organisms called freshwater polyps found in prairie potholes, ponds and ditches. 1805 in (1905) VI. 187 The Prarie lark, bald Eagle, & the large plover have returned. 1885 XIX. 112/2 In North America [pipits] are represented by only two species—Neocorys spraguii, the Prairie-Lark of the north-western plains, and Anthus ludovicianus, the American Titlark. 1945 V. F. L. Eifert 108 Prairie larks are flatland birds, the color of dust and dead grass. 1966 14 July The amazing, delightful story of a couples' [sic] experiences with a number of precocious, lovable prairie larks. 1855 H. W. Longfellow 37 And the daughter of Nokomis Grew up like the prairie lilies. 1916 2 91 Abundant monocotyledons, other than the grasses, are the wild onion and the prairie lilies. 1996 Sept. 19/2 Prairie lily—the official floral emblem of Saskatchewan, Lilium philadelphicum, the red-range lily or western red lily. 1834 C. F. Hoffman Let. 16 Jan. in (1835) I. 264 I was contented to wrap myself as closely as possible in my buffalo robe, and join him in a game of prairie loo... The game consists merely in betting upon the number of wild animals seen by either party, towards the side of the vehicle on which he is. 1947 15 Jan. 7/3 Prairie loo was a game played in pioneer days by counting the number of game animals on either side of a road during a journey. 1912 J. Sandilands 35 Prairie madness, the melancholia which attacks the lonely homesteader. 1973 H. Robertson iii. 53 The loneliness and isolation which contributed to emotional breakdowns known in the West as ‘prairie madness’. 2003 (Nexis) 15 June d29 She began researching ‘prairie madness’, a scientifically documented syndrome that afflicted 19th century homesteaders in the Dakotas. the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Rodentia or rodent > [noun] > family Sciuridae (squirrel) > genus Cynomys (prairie-dog) 1826 J. D. Godman II. 114 The Prairie Marmot... Commonly called Prairie-dog. 1888 15 Sept. 2/4 Usually a country that is inhabited by prairie dogs, or more properly by prairie marmots, has a dry, thin atmosphere. 1940 16 Dec. 9/2 They just might get in some practice cracking at jack-rabbits and gophers and prairie marmots. 2002 13 Apr. 3 The new interactive showpiece is designed to allow children and parents to get closer to the North American Prairie Marmots than before. 1857 VIII. 539 Arvicola (Pedomys) austera, Leconte. Prairie Meadow-Mouse. 1936 17 257 The Prairie Meadow Mouse is found in the northern central part of the Mississippi Valley. 1961 H. H. T. Jackson 236 Prairie Vole... Probably most frequently called prairie mouse or short-tailed prairie mouse... Other names include prairie meadow mouse,..prairie short-tailed mouse, [etc.]. the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > [noun] > order Insectivora > family Talpidae > member of genus Scalops 1808 Z. M. Pike 31 Caught a curious little animal on the prairie, which my Frenchman termed a prairie mole. 1857 VIII. 63 (heading) Scalops Argentatus. Silver or Prairie Mole. 1869 39 129 The prairie mole (Hesperomys austerus, Baird). 1933 14 4 Scalopus aquaticus machrinus (Raf.). Prairie mole. Very common. Moles are well-known lawn pests throughout South Bend. 1976 95 436 The particular subspecies studied was S. a. machrinus, frequently referred to as the prairie mole. 1857 VIII. (heading) 476 Hesperomys Michiganensis. Prairie Mouse. 1937 18 88 (table) Perennial Nucleus... Predominants... White footed prairie mouse, Pack rat, [etc.]. 1961 H. H. T. Jackson 236 Prairie Vole... Probably most frequently called prairie mouse or short-tailed prairie mouse. 1989 3 Dec. d5/1 Meadow and prairie mice have tails about twice the length of their hind feet. the world > animals > birds > order Strigiformes or owl > [noun] > family Strigidae > athene cunicularia (burrowing owl) the world > animals > birds > order Strigiformes or owl > [noun] > family Strigidae > genus Asio > asio flammeus (short-eared owl) 1846 R. B. Sage xii. 110 The prairie-owl and rattlesnake maintain friendly relations with these inoffensive villagers [sc. prairie-dogs]. 1860 C. W. Wilson (1970) ii. 108 Nothing to disturb me but the melancholy note of the prairie owl. 1876 J. H. Simpson (U.S. Army Corps Topogr. Engineers) 377 Speotyto cunicularia var. hypugæa, Coues.—Prairie Owl. Fort Kearney; Platte Creek; Horse Creek, Utah; 4 specimens. 1953 23 Feb. 1/4 A number of marsh hawks and prairie owls were scared up. 2000 27 June a5 They pointed to a large, short-eared owl who was hunting in the tall grass. It was a prairie owl. the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > other fruits > [noun] the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > leguminous plants > [noun] > milk-vetch 1848 E. Bryant ii. 28 I observed, also, a plant producing a fruit of the size of the walnut, called the prairie-pea... In its raw state it [sc. the fruit] is eaten by travellers..to quench thirst. 1869 3 162 One of the earliest flowers [of the Kansas plains] is the Prairie-pea (Astragalus mexicanus). 1943 B. A. De Voto 155 They..made spiced pickles of the ‘prairie peas’. 2004 J. N. Graham v. 36 Purple coneflowers and yellow, prairie pea, phlox, and scarlet milkweeds grew here wild and free. 1918 H. D. House II. 229 The Downy or Prairie Phlox..occurs rather locally in New York. 1940 W. N. Clute (ed. 3) 266 Phlox glaberrima. Prairie phlox, meadow-phlox. 2004 6 Oct. (Neighbors section) 2/1 Wildflowers begin with prairie phlox in the early spring. the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > ploughing equipment > [noun] > plough > other types of plough 1831 W. Sewall 50 Apr. (1930) 136 Sat off with the team, and a prairie plow which came on late last night with instructions, to commence breaking prairie. a1877 E. H. Knight II. 1782/1 Prairie-plow, a large plow supported in front on wheels, and adapted to pare and overturn a very broad but shallow furrow-slice. 1949 23 124/2 The farmer, after first breaking the tough prairie sod with the newly-invented prairie plow, sowed a field of wheat, a field of corn, and possibly some oats, barley, or flax. 1999 A. C. Guelzo i. 42 The prairie grass, with its twisty root systems as much as three feet deep, could not be broken by anything but heavy prairie plows, pulled by five to ten yoke of oxen. the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Scolopacidae (snipes, etc.) > [noun] > bartramia longicauda (Bartram's sandpiper) the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > [noun] > family Charadriidae > genus Pluvialis > pluvialis dominica (American golden plover) 1851 W. Kelly I. v. 83 A stand of prairie plover most opportunely made their appearance as we pulled up. 1888 G. Trumbull 173 Bartramia longicauda... In Southern Wisconsin,..in 1851 this bird..was known as the Prairie Plover, and also as the Prairie Snipe. 1940 E. T. Seton xxxii. 299 The white-tailed longspurs, the prairie plover, were all gone, wholly routed by the plough. 1954 M. Sandoz iv. 105 The dainty little prairie plover that rose singly, at forty, fifty yards and soared gently away. 1994 111 505/2 The name of the Mountain Plover has always been considered a misnomer... Rather most field biologists think of it as either the ‘you-can-see-the-mountains-from-here’ plover or the ‘prairie’ plover. 1814 H. M. Brackenridge 62 Amongst the species of plums in Lousiana..there is none more interesting than the prairie plum, (prunus chickasa). 1908 N. L. Britton 487 Black Sloe—Prunus umbellata... Also called..Prairie, Oldfield, Chicasaw, or Bullace plum. 1949 3 July 2/1 Fuel was one of the toughest problems. The Poole family tried prairie plum bush, seldom thicker than a man's thumb. 2001 (Nexis) 22 July Homes h10 Prairie plums need to be pollinated with another variety of plum in order to successfully produce fruit. the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > root vegetable > [noun] > other root vegetables the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > root vegetables > other root vegetables or plants producing them 1828 J. C. Beltrami II. xvii. 321 Everything appeared to me delicious, even some roots which they call prairie-potatoes, and which I had before thought detestable. 1891 Mar. 168 The prairie potato..yields when dry a light, starchy flour, and is often cut into thin slices and dried for winter. 1947 J. C. Malin (1961) ix. 106 On June 4 [1843], he observed Kansas Indian women digging prairie potatoes (psoralea esculenta). 1976 (L. H. Bailey Hortorium) 924/1 Psoralea esculenta Pursh. Indian turnip, breadroot,..prairie potato. the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Viperidae (vipers) > subfamily Crotalinae > member of genus Sistrurus the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Viperidae (vipers) > subfamily Crotalinae > genus or member of genus Crotalus > rattlesnake 1878 J. H. Beadle 133 The only dangerous snakes are the little prairie rattlers, seldom over two feet long. 1948 30 May 14 A prairie rattler coils to strike; its prey is a rabbit. 1995 Aug. 50 Occasionally,..the alert traveler may spot jackrabbits and prairie rattlers and coyotes. the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Viperidae (vipers) > subfamily Crotalinae > member of genus Sistrurus the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Viperidae (vipers) > subfamily Crotalinae > genus or member of genus Crotalus > rattlesnake 1817 S. R. Brown 31 The only venomous serpents, are the common and prairie rattlesnake, and copper-heads. 1843 W. Oliver 150 The inhabitants recognize two kinds of rattlesnakes, to wit, the wood- and the prairie-rattlesnake, or mississauga, of which the latter is much the smaller and less dangerous. 1873 ‘M. Twain’ & C. D. Warner 125 Prairie-rattlesnakes..never strike above the knee. 1948 Apr. 187/1 An extensive campaign was waged against the prairie rattlesnake. 1991 Summer 28/2 The closely related Prairie rattlesnake (Crotalus viridus viridus) inhabits southern Alberta and Saskatchewan along the South Saskatchewan and Red Deer rivers and the Cypress Hills area. a1884 E. H. Knight Suppl. 717/2 Prairie Renovator, an implement with tearing harrow teeth, drawn over the surface of grass land to loosen the roots and the soil,..and break up the matted vegetation. society > trade and finance > monetary value > [noun] > value of land or property 1882 2 May 6/7 The question of ‘prairie rent’..is probably more dangerous than the candid policy of ‘no rent’. 1895 M. Davitt in 25 Mar. 3/3 The annual value of such land, in its original or pre-reclaimed condition, would be its ‘prairie rent’. 1988 21 844 These arguments and the number presented above suggest that actual 1901 prairie rent was indeed lower than the numbers currently used. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > rose and allied flowers > rose > types of rose flower or bush 1822 J. Woods 303 The prairie-roses, balm..and sassafras-wood..have all powerful scents. 1888 Mar. 662/2 The carpet of prairie roses, whose short stalks lift the beautiful blossoms but a few inches from the ground. 1946 E. B. Thompson 36 We gazed in awe upon the prairie rose, a delicate pink flower growing close to the ground, whose thorny stem belied its tender beauty. 1990 J. Hudson (1992) x. 111 She stumbled through underbrush toward the growing light... Low prairie roses bent, white smudges, under her moccasins. society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > cart, carriage, or wagon > [noun] > covered > as used by emigrants in America 1847 21 May The prairie ship was loosened from her moorings on the lands of Mr. Lindsey Lewis. 1862 R. F. Burton (ed. 2) 22 The wain is literally a ‘prairie ship’: its body is often used as a ferry. 1922 E. Hough i. 4 A dull dust cloud arose, softening the outlines of the prairie ships. 1965 24 Dec. b13/1 A long, red calico prairie skirt featuring a drawstring waist. 1989 (Nexis) 15 Aug. He improves on the familiar range of prairie clothes, establishing the new chic way of layering a..Navaho-patterned sweater and chambray prairie skirt. 2003 27 Apr. ix. 3/1 Girls who admired their mothers' prairie skirts last year can now flounce through spring in their own. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > buttercup and allied flowers > anemones 1893 6 136 Anemone patens, var. Nuttalliana..gosling, prairie smoke, crocus. 1952 26 Feb. 10/7 The Pasqueflower..is a bluish open bell shaped wild flower of the prairies... Patches of the flower at a distance give the impression of a bluish haze. This gives rise to its more familiar name ‘prairie smoke’. 1977 J. B. Moyle & E. W. Moyle 69/2 Purple Avens (G[eum] triflorum). Also called Prairie Smoke... After flowering the styles elongate to form an erect brush of soft, slender plumes, the ‘Prairie Smoke’. 2005 (Nexis) 15 May f1 The seed heads of prairie smoke waved in the breeze. the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Colubridae > miscellaneous types of > member of genus Masticophis 1832 Mar. 211 You may call it pine snake, prairie snake, or bull snake, as you please. Some say it is excellent eating. 1890 Prairie snake, a large harmless American snake (Masticophis flavigularis). It is pale yellow, tinged with brown above. 1957 38 213/1 Three species of prairie snakes are not restricted to sand but occur in grassland relicts well to the east of the main segments of their respective ranges. 1994 (Nexis) 7 June 1 d The hognose snake. This prairie snake is strange-looking, with a pointed, upturned snout. the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Scolopacidae (snipes, etc.) > [noun] > bartramia longicauda (Bartram's sandpiper) the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > [noun] > family Charadriidae > genus Pluvialis > pluvialis dominica (American golden plover) 1851 W. Kelly I. v. 80 I shot a brace of prairie snipe. 1857 Sept. 524/2 There is another very singular bird belonging to the grallic family; it is commonly called the ‘prairie snipe’. It is very shy..and is about the size of a prairie hen. 1917 T. G. Pearson I. 247 Upland Plover. Bartramia longicauda... [Also called] Prairie Snipe. the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > kind of earth or soil > [noun] > other soils 1817 S. R. Brown 66 The common field near the town contains nearly 5000 acres, of excellent prairie soil. 1876 13 288 The prairie soils are usually darker, more crude, coarser and wetter than the woodland. 1928 C. F. Marbut in 4 21 The podsolic and lateritic soils of category VI have been subdivided into 8 sub-groups consisting of Tundra, Podsols, Brown Forest soils, Red soils, Yellow soils, Prairie soils (dark colored humid soils), Laterites and Ferruginous Laterites. 1974 E. A. Fitzpatrick vii. 116 In the U.S.A. and elsewhere there are prairie soils or brunizems which are similar to chernozems but they have a middle horizon with a clay maximum and are slightly less fertile. 1991 P. C. Newman iii. 54 Most of the farms occupied about four hundred feet of river-bank, then arched two miles or so through fields and woodlands to the drier prairie soil. the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > disordered vision > [noun] > squinting or cross-eyes 1937 21 July 4/2 Blakely..saddle bowed and with a prairie squint, has a sense of humor as dry as the native alkali. 1963 R. D. Symons ix. 92 He wears a grey felt hat, beneath which his tanned face is puckered in the ‘prairie squint’. 2005 (Nexis) 18 July 1 e Dressed in a gray suit, his eyes squeezed in a tight prairie squint, his pompadour as tall as ever. the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Rodentia or rodent > [noun] > family Sciuridae (squirrel) > genus Cynomys (prairie-dog) the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Rodentia or rodent > [noun] > family Sciuridae (squirrel) > genus Spermophilus (spermophile) > species richardsoni (Richardson's squirrel) 1808 Z. M. Pike (1810) ii. 155 We..killed some prairie squirrels, or wishtonwishes. 1857 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Patents 1856: Agric. 73 in (34th Congr., 3rd Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. 65, Pt. 4) XVI These are with great propriety called ‘Prairie Squirrels’, for their true home is on the prairie. 1936 17 182 (heading) Franklin's Ground-Squirrel, Franklin's Gopher, Prairie Squirrel, Gray Gopher. 1941 Vestal 61 In the '90s some enterprising ranchers killed and dressed prairie dogs which they shipped east to market as ‘prairie squirrels’. 1992 (Nexis) 18 Oct. e3 Chipmunks are rodents like groundhogs, prairie squirrels, beaver, muskrat, rats and mice. the world > the earth > named regions of earth > America > North America > [noun] > United States > western states > prairie states the world > the earth > named regions of earth > America > North America > [noun] > United States > specific states > Illinois 1842 6 Aug. 4/5 Federal Coon Whiggery extinct in the Prairie State! 1842 24 Dec. We must look to the Prairie States of Illinois, Wiskonsan and Iowa. 1868 June 123/2 When he pronounced ‘good-by’ to the Prairie State, at the State line, he said, ‘Behind the cloud the sun is shining still.’ 1919 E. Huntington iii. 72 We have already seen how much the soil was improved by glaciation in Wisconsin and Ohio. It was in the prairie States that this improvement reached a maximum. 2002 S. W. Usselman i. 34 In the Prairie State capital of Springfield, Lincoln had ample opportunity to observe the rapidly changing character of American political economy. 1857 J. Palliser (1863) 7 The general altitude of the first or most easterly prairie steppe may be estimated at 800 to 900 feet above sea level. 1950 W. L. Morton i. 3 The Red River Valley and the Manitoba highlands of the second prairie steppe were veined by railways. 2002 (Nexis) Dec. Spread Eagle Mountain greets the prairie steppe without a screen of high foothills. the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > root vegetable > [noun] > other root vegetables the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > root vegetables > other root vegetables or plants producing them 1811 H. M. Brackenridge Jrnl. 14 June in (1814) 249 The prairie turnip is a root very common in the prairies, with something of the taste of the turnip, but more dry. 1857 J. Palliser (1863) 38 The root..receives the name of the Prairie Turnip by the half-breeds, who, with Indians, use it as food. 1941 D. McCowan 246 The Crees and the Blackfeet were glad to make a meal from the edible root of the Prairie Turnip. 2003 (Nexis) 14 June a4 My aunt told me she used to feed cooked prairie turnips to her mother-in-law when the mother-in-law was old and very ill. society > trade and finance > monetary value > [noun] > value of land or property 1881 J. Bright Speech 9 May in (1881) CCLXI. 105 If all that the tenants have done were swept off the soil, and all that the landlords have done were left upon it, the land..would be as bare as an American prairie where the Indian now roams and where the White man has never trod.] 1881 24 Sept. 11/5 Mr. Alfred Webb, an ardent sympathizer with the national cause, states that he felt constrained to write a letter protesting against the dictum propounded at the late convention, that the landlords should be paid for their land at the prairie value. 1898 T. C. Allbutt et al. V. 825 Refusing to go beyond the bare etymology—‘the prairie value’—of the name. 1910 F. H. O'Connell I. vi. 147 Mr. Butt's Bill was regretfully remembered by owners menaced with the theories of the prairie value school of agrarian politicians. 1969 9 112 Spencer argues that even if the ‘prairie value’ of virgin soil belongs by right to the community, government has no practical way of calculating and exacting the value from proprietors because it is inextricably mixed into present real estate prices. 1916 15 Jan. 3/2 A moment later a Red-backed Prairie Vole, scurrying out of the grass, barely escaped with his life as the Shrike struck swiftly at him. 1922 3 29 While collecting the prairie deer mice to use in the experiments the prairie vole, Microtus ochrogaster (Wagner), was secured in abundance. 2001 (Nexis) 22 July d7 Male prairie voles, injected with oxytocin, snuffle and lick their young pups. society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > cart, carriage, or wagon > [noun] > covered > as used by emigrants in America 1848 G. C. Furber 323 You would be surprised at the amount of kitchen furniture,..bags, vegetables [etc.] taken out.—You would think of prairie wagons loaded for Oregon. 1920 24 328 In prehellenic architecture most notable examples of these long barrel roofs, like the tops of prairie wagons, must have covered the great halls of Troy II. 1994 R. Hendrickson 6 Ambulance, a synonym for a prairie wagon; also called a dougherty wagon. the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > arboreal families > family Parulidae (wood warbler) > [noun] > genus Dendroica > miscellaneous types of 1811 A. Wilson III. 87 [The] Prairie Warbler..I first discovered in that singular tract of country in Kentucky, commonly called the Barrens. 1917 T. G. Pearson III. 150/1 The Prairie Warbler is not very common on the prairies. 1990 Aug. 67/1 By then I had begun to doubt the existence of Prairie Warblers. the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [noun] > genus Canis > canis latrans (coyote) 1804 W. Clark Jrnl. 12 Aug. in (1986) II. 474 A Prarie Wolf Come near the bank and Barked at us this evening. 1898 H. S. Canfield 39 The long howl of the prairie wolf rose on the air and hung tremulant. 1948 18 Apr. 14/7 There are practically only two distinct kinds of wolves in America—the large gray timber wolf and the coyote or prairie wolf. 1994 Aug. 144/2 (advt.) The American Staghound..was a favorite of General Custer; used to hunt antelope and the prairie wolf. the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > herb or herbaceous plant > [noun] > herbage or grass > forming characteristic vegetation 1908 21 Feb. 8/3 Thousands of acres of grazing land, covered with a thick growth of grass resembling the ‘prairie wool’ which makes the cattle ranges of Alberta and Saskatchewan unrivaled. 1953 June 245/1 The sheep crop the ‘prairie wool’—that excellent hard forage composed of spear-grass, bunch-grass and buffalo-grass. 1992 Autumn 12 Dear Miss Hotchkiss viewed herself as a pillar of refinement blinking like a beacon over the sea of waving grain fields and rippling prairie wool. Derivatives the world > the earth > land > landscape > level land > [adjective] > plain > specific plain 1838 C. H. Gilman 216 Dear to me the South's fair land, Dear the central mountain-band, Dear New England's rocky strand, Dear the prairied West. 1930 H. N. Spalding 58 The happy cornlands of the prairied West. 1991 (Nexis) 23 Nov. a6 Those who defend green oases within urban areas, as well as wetlands, old growth forests, and prairied grasslands. 1844 13 July There is more building now going on in this city [sc. Chicago] than at any time before since it emerged from Prairiedom. 1851 M. Reid I. vi. 75 The metropolis of all prairiedom. 1931 I. B. Richman 288 (heading) Peter Cartwright primate of all prairiedom. 1998 (Nexis) 22 Nov. 1 Springfield was just the place to go for a short immersion course in prairiedom. 1837 H. Martineau II. 21 The green, prairie-like, Canada shore. 1904 7 May 22/3 The Lunar Apennines suddenly descend to the prairie-like level of the Mare Imbrium (Sea of Showers). 1993 A. L. Hall (BNC) 62 In contrast to the prairie-like flatness of the structure, a grand gold and white awning prefaced the house. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < n.a1682 |