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desert

desert

726 1.3
A large dry area with very little rain and few plants
  • noun
  • /ˈdɛzərt/
: desierto
  • It's a monument out in the middle of the desert in California.
  • desert habitat
  • desert soil
  • desert tortoise

It's a monument out in the middle of the desert in California.

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Examples

  • There I was out in the middle of the desert, and I was trying to think things out.

  • Travelers often take long journeys through the desert in search of oases.

  • And when I was in the desert, it was super quiet.

  • Where is the largest desert in the world located?

  • We're 2,000 feet up in the middle of the desert.

  • Walking Far has been telling us all about survival in the desert.

  • We captured two kids who were wandering in the desert.

  • People from the Afar tribe have lived in this desert region for hundreds of years.

    Academic text (2011)
  • The Sahara is the largest hot desert in the world, covering much of North Africa.

  • In the desert, plants and animals have adapted to survive with minimal water.

Synonyms

arid landscape
vsdesert
1 5.0

A very dry area of land with little or no plant life

is a large area often sandy and not only about extreme dryness
dryland
vsdesert
  • Specialized
1 5.1

Land that gets very little rain and has no irrigation

is a large natural area defined by dryness and sparse vegetation not irrigation
dry landscape
vsdesert
1 3.9

An area of land with little water and few plants

is a large landform often sandy rather than any ordinary dry area

Compounds

33 3.6

An island in the sea where no one lives

A US-led military attack in 1991 that quickly forced Iraq's army out of Kuwait

11 3.8

A very dry area in southern California and nearby states with plants like Joshua trees and animals

A very large hot area of sand in northern Africa with wide sand dunes

5 4.4

A large dry area in northern China and southern Mongolia with few plants and strong winds

A very large dry area on the Arabian Peninsula with sand dunes and few plants

A large dry region in southwestern Arizona, southeastern California, and northwestern Mexico with many saguaro cacti

3 8.0

A small hopping animal that lives in deserts, often in North America and Mexico, and eats seeds

A very dry desert in northern Chile with rich minerals and clear night skies

1 3.8

A large desert in northeastern Egypt between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea

A desert on a high plateau in northeastern Arizona with colorful layered rocks

1 7.7

A small plant with a thick swollen stem and bright pink or white flowers grown in warm places

A large dry area in the southwest of Africa mainly in Botswana

1 6.0

A large land turtle with a round shell that lives in burrows to escape desert heat

1 8.9

A nickname for the German general Erwin Rommel who led forces in North Africa during World War II

A dry, sandy part of the Sahara Desert in Libya, Egypt, and Sudan

1 5.8

A large dry area in southern Israel with mostly sand and rocks

1 3.6

A plant that can live with very little water, for example a cactus

1 4.9

A large desert in Namibia along the southwest coast by the Atlantic Ocean

1 3.4

A low ankle boot made of leather or suede with a soft rubber sole

A desert in northwestern Nevada with a large flat dry lakebed and an annual arts festival

A very large dry area in southern Syria, western Iraq, eastern Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia

A large dry area in southern California and western Arizona with hot weather and Joshua trees

A large desert in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States

1 4.2

Soil in very dry areas with little plant material

A dry area in southeast California with very hot weather and special desert plants and animals

An arid flat area of sand and rock in the northeast of Sudan between the Nile and the Red Sea

A desert region in Egypt between the Nile and the Red Sea

A large sandy desert in western China with very dry land and strong winds

1 8.4

A small tree that grows in dry places and has long narrow leaves and purple flowers

1 6.1

A large dry area of sand in northwest India and southeast Pakistan with little plant life

1 8.1

A large desert in eastern Iran that has very hot weather and salt flats

A large dry area of sand in Turkmenistan south of the Aral Sea

A large dry area in Egypt between the Nile and the Red Sea with few plants

A large, very dry area in northwest Australia north of the Gibson Desert

1 5.6

A very dry area in southern Arizona with plants like cacti and wild animals

A large flat area of salt and dry land in north central Iran, also called Dasht-e Kavir

1 8.1

A low shrub that grows in salty, dry soil with blue-green prickly leaves often used for Christmas decoration

A very large dry area in southern Argentina that is one of the world's biggest deserts

A large desert in western China with very dry weather and moving sand dunes

1 7.2

A slender hairy plant with golden-yellow flowers that grows in sandy deserts

1 9.5

A spiny desert shrub that makes small pale flowers and black berries

1 7.9

A small lizard with a long tail that lives in hot dry deserts and sits in the sun on rocks

A large dry area east of the Indus River in northwest India and southeast Pakistan

1 9.1

A lung and skin infection from a fungus in dry, dusty places

A small desert plant with sticky leaves and bright pink trumpet flowers

A desert plant with deep pink, tube-shaped flowers that open in the evening

A wild cat with long tufts of hair on its ears that lives in hot, dry deserts

A wild flower with bell-shaped orange, red or yellow blooms on short stems in dry places

A plant in dry western United States areas with straight stems and groups of bright red and orange flowers

desert pea
  • Australian
9.5

A low bushy plant from dry parts of Australia with bright red flowers and a black spot

9.5

A plant that lives for several years with thick yellow flower spikes and blue-green divided leaves

desert selaginella
  • Specialized
9.9

A low plant that forms green mats on sandy desert soil

A long arc of red sand dunes in southern Saudi Arabia

A large dry area of sand and rocks in western Australia with very few people

A very large dry area of sand that covers much of the Arabian Peninsula

A large dry area in south central Australia

A large salt desert in north central Iran with a dry climate and salt flats

Sturt's desert pea
  • Australian
9.9

A short Australian plant from dry inland areas with bright red flowers and black centres

A dry area in Turkmenistan south of the Aral Sea with large areas of sand and few plants

How Dry

aridness
  • Specialized
1 6.7
desert
726 1.3
arid climate
  • Specialized
1 4.1
dryland
  • Specialized
1 5.1
semiarid
1 6.1

Surface Forms

desert singular
deserts plural

Etymology

Desert (land) comes from an old word meaning 'abandoned' or 'left alone', so a desert is a place people left long ago and where very little grows.