Sahara Desert
4
2.8
- proper noun
- /səˈhɑːrə ˈdɛzərt/
:
Desierto del Sahara
- The Sahara Desert is known for its vast sand dunes and extreme temperatures.
Examples
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The Sahara Desert spans across several countries in northern Africa.
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Tourists often visit the Sahara Desert to experience its unique landscapes and wildlife.
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He got lost in the middle of the Sahara Desert.
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...you'd find me in the middle of the Sahara Desert.
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Black Africa is largely partitioned from North Africa by the Sahara Desert.
Academic text (1995) -
The population down in Sub-Saharan Africa would, of course, have to cross the Sahara Desert.
Blog text (28) -
They're trapped in the Sahara Desert.
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On the edge of the vast Sahara Desert, citizens snuck out of the city of Timbuktu and took to the wilderness.
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Morocco is situated astride the Sahara Desert, on the southern margins of midlatitude storm systems.
Academic text (1992) -
Then they climb aboard camels and head into the Sahara Desert, followed by a team of native diggers they have hired.
Fiction book (1999)
Synonyms
31
1.7
A very large hot desert in northern Africa
Surface Forms
Morphology
The name is directly compositional: 'Sahara' identifies the specific region and 'desert' names the landscape type, so the overall meaning (the large desert region in northern Africa) is immediately derivable from the parts. This toponymic naming pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows straightforward composition, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will understand it.
Etymology
Sahara Desert comes from Arabic. The word Sahara means 'desert', so Sahara Desert really says 'desert desert', which explains why the name points to the very large dry area in northern Africa.