harmattan

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“
During the dry season, a strong wind called the harmattan blows from the Sahara across West Africa.

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Definitions (4)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. noun A dry dusty wind that blows along the northwest coast of Africa.

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Examples (50)

  • The harmattan was like an Edinburgh “haar,” though it was not cold except between midnight and daybreak; the air was thick with fine sand dust, and often she could not see three yards away. —  Mary Slessor of Calabar: Pioneer Missionary
  • On Friday the 8th she sat on a deck-chair in the little garden outside the door enjoying the sunshine, for the harmattan wind was cold, and writing some letters. —  Mary Slessor of Calabar: Pioneer Missionary
  • During the dry season, a strong wind called the harmattan blows from the Sahara across West Africa. —  Signs of the Times
  • As if to presage that there is a new dawn in the world, with the inauguration of President Barack Obama, the strong winds coming from the Sub-Sahara have manifested themselves in the form of what Ghana typically knows as the harmattan season. —  Accra by Day & Night
  • The harmattan is said not to extend to the southward of Fernando Po, but this has not yet been fully ascertained The passage through the gulf from Fernando Po to Sierra Leone, is generally extremely long and tedious, owing to the prevalence of calms and the different currents. —  Lander's Travels The Travels of Richard Lander into the Interior of Africa
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Akan (Twi) haramata, possibly from Arabic ḥarām, evil thing, from ḥarama, to prohibit; see ḥrm in Semitic roots.

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  1. Arabic name.
 

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/hɑrˈmætən/
by American Heritage

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