chaparral

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“
It is made by the chaparral, which is composed of a variety of desert plants that are native to the soil and can live on very little water.

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Definitions (6)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun Ecology A biome characterized by hot dry summers and cool moist winters and dominated by a dense growth of mostly small-leaved evergreen shrubs, as that found in the foothills of California.
  2. noun A dense thicket of shrubs and small trees.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (2)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (50)

  • As the glimmers of dawn softened the shadows in the compound and out in the chaparral, they revealed a ghastly scene. —  Three Roads to Alamo
  • We pursued our rapid step until we came to a dense chaparral, and into this we threaded our way until we reached an almost impenetrable jungle. —  The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Citizen-soldier, by John Beatty.
  • The old dry walls flared like chaparral, the timbers shrieked and roared as they fell. —  EQMM, Sep - Oct 2006
  • The end result will be a substantial reduction in chaparral, weeds, and tall grass. —  KEYT - News - Local
  • The house sits next to barren, chaparral-covered hills. —  The Seattle Times
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Spanish, from chaparro, evergreen oak, from Basque txapar, diminutive of saphar, thicket.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Spanish, from chaparra, chaparro, an evergreen oak, said to be from Basque achaparra, from acha, *atza for aitza, rock, stone, + abarra, an evergreen oak.
 

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/tʃæpəˈræl/
by American Heritage

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