8 results for: chaparral

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

chap·ar·ral

Audio Help [shap-uh-ral, chap-] Pronunciation Key

–noun Southwestern U.S.

a dense growth of shrubs or small trees.

[Origin: 1835–45, Americanism; < Sp, equiv. to chaparr(o) evergreen oak (< Basque tshapar) + -al collective suffix

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
chaparral

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

chap·ar·ral Audio Help (shāp'ə-rāl') Pronunciation Key
n.

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.
A dense thicket of shrubs and small trees.

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

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
chaparral

1850, Amer.Eng., from Sp. chaparro "evergreen oak," perhaps from Basque txapar.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

chaparral
noun
dense vegetation consisting of stunted trees or bushes [syn: scrub]

U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

Chaparral, NM (CDP, FIPS 14250) Location: 32.02593 N, 106.39946 W
Population (1990): 2962 (1020 housing units)
Area: 14.1 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 88021

U.S. Gazetteer, U.S. Census Bureau

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Chaparral

Cha`par*ral"\, n. [Sp., fr. chaparro an evergeen oak.]

1. A thicket of low evergreen oaks.

2. An almost impenetrable thicket or succession of thickets of thorny shrubs and brambles.

Chaparral cock; fem. Chaparral hen (Zo["o]l.), a bird of the cuckoo family (Geococcyx Californianus), noted for running with great speed. It ranges from California to Mexico and eastward to Texas; -- called also road runner, ground cuckoo, churea, and snake killer .

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Chaparral

Cock\, n. [AS. coc; of unknown origin, perh. in imitation of the cry of the cock. Cf. Chicken.]

1. The male of birds, particularly of gallinaceous or domestic fowls.

2. A vane in the shape of a cock; a weathercock.

Drenched our steeples, drowned the cocks! --Shak.

3. A chief man; a leader or master. [Humorous]

Sir Andrew is the cock of the club, since he left us. --Addison.

4. The crow of a cock, esp. the first crow in the morning; cockcrow. [Obs.]

He begins at curfew, and walks till the first cock. --Shak.

5. A faucet or valve.

Note: Jonsons says, "The handly probably had a cock on the top; things that were contrived to turn seem anciently to have had that form, whatever was the reason." Skinner says, because it used to be constructed in forma crit[ae] galli, i.e., in the form of a cock's comb.

6. The style of gnomon of a dial. --Chambers.

7. The indicator of a balance. --Johnson.

8. The bridge piece which affords a bearing for the pivot of a balance in a clock or watch. --Knight.

Ball cock. See under Ball.

Chaparral cock. See under Chaparral.

Cock and bull story, an extravagant, boastful story; a canard.

Cock of the plains (Zo["o]l.) See Sage cock.

Cock of the rock (Zo["o]l.), a South American bird (Rupicola aurantia) having a beautiful crest.

Cock of the walk, a chief or master; the hero of the hour; one who has overcrowed, or got the better of, rivals or competitors.

Cock of the woods. See Capercailzie.

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