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Glite Dictionary
Nullarbor Plain

Nullarbor Plain

1 9.9
A very large dry plain in southern Australia with few trees and little water
  • proper noun
translation icon : llanura Nullarbor
  • The crime scene that I investigated stretched from the vast desert of the Nullarbor Plain of Western Australia, east through the Murray River basin, to the spectacular cliffs of the Victorian coastline.

Examples

  • Traveling through the Nullarbor Plain, we marveled at the endless stretches of arid landscape.

  • The EP also includes new songs 'She's Like a Fable' and 'The Longing', which were written while going across the Australian Nullarbor Plain.

    Blog text (28)

  • The Nullarbor Plain is famous for its unique flora and fauna adapted to the harsh, dry conditions.

  • Crossing the Nullarbor Plain was an unforgettable experience, with its vast emptiness and stunning sunrises.

Synonyms

plain
vsNullarbor Plain
98 1.0

A large flat area of land with few trees

is an arid coastal inland area noted for scarce vegetation and water
outback
vsNullarbor Plain
  • Australian
38 5.9

Remote land in Australia far from towns where few people live

is a specific treeless arid flat area within those inland regions
Australian outback
vsNullarbor Plain
  • Australian
3 6.3

A large dry area in Australia far from cities and towns

is a specific flat area in the southern interior with little water
Never-Never
vsNullarbor Plain
  • Australian
2 9.9

A very remote part of the Australian outback that is wild and harsh

is a specific named arid flat area rather than a general wild region
dryland
vsNullarbor Plain
  • Specialized
1 5.1

Land that gets very little rain and has no irrigation

is a named vast region in southern Australia lacking surface water

Surface Forms

Nullarbor Plain main

Morphology

Nullarbor + plain

The element 'plain' clearly signals a flat open area, so a B1 learner who knows that word will recognize this as the name of a geographic plain. However, 'Nullarbor' is a proper name with Latin roots ('no trees') that most B1 learners will not know, so the specific descriptive sense (vast, treeless, arid, Australian location) is not recoverable from the constituents alone.

Etymology

Nullarbor Plain comes from Latin words nullus 'no' and arbor 'tree'. So the name literally means 'no trees', a clear image for the wide, flat, almost treeless land in southern Australia.