Great Plains

noun

1. a semiarid region E of the Rocky Mountains, in the U.S. and Canada.

Great Plains

plural noun

1. a vast region of North America east of the Rocky Mountains, extending from the lowlands of the Mackenzie River (Canada), south to the Big Bend of the Rio Grande

Great Plains

1. Grassland prairie region of North America, extending from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, in Canada, south through the west-central United States into Texas.

In the 1930s, areas of the Great Plains were known collectively as the Dust Bowl. Poor agricultural practices led to depletion of topsoil, which was blown away in huge dust storms. The area was called the Great American Desert well into the nineteenth century.

Now characterized by huge ranches and farms, the Great Plains were long inhabited by Native Americans.

Example Sentences

In the Great Plains, thousands abandoned their farms in the country’s “dust bowl” and headed for California.

From Salon

On July 14, the DHS X account featured a painting of a young white couple cradling a baby in a covered wagon on the Great Plains with the caption, “Remember your Homeland’s Heritage.”

From Los Angeles Times

As Europeans settled the Great Plains, they suppressed fire and planted trees, allowing barred owls to expand westward from their origin in eastern North America, biologists believe.

From Los Angeles Times

The Ogallala Aquifer, which rests beneath the Great Plains and was once thought inexhaustible, now drops several feet per year in some areas, turning what was once America’s breadbasket into tomorrow’s dust bowl.

From Salon

Superman fights for the people on the Great Plains as much as he does those in the coastal cities, and Reeve’s interpretation is purple mountain majesty all the way.

From Salon