pampas

[ pam-puhz; attributively pam-puhs; Spanish pahm-pahs ]
See synonyms for pampas on Thesaurus.com
plural noun,singular pam·pa [pam-puh; Spanish pahm-pah]. /ˈpæm pə; Spanish ˈpɑm pɑ/.
  1. the vast grassy plains of southern South America, especially in Argentina.

Origin of pampas

1
First recorded in 1695–1705; from Latin American Spanish, plural of pampa, from Quechua: “flat, unbounded plain”

Other words from pampas

  • pam·pe·an [pam-pee-uhn, pam-pee-uhn], /pæmˈpi ən, ˈpæm pi ən/, adjective

Words Nearby pampas

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use pampas in a sentence

  • Beneath the balcony was an arcade where many seats were disposed among palms and pampas grass.

    Ancestors | Gertrude Atherton
  • Now, with the increase of the area of cultivation, the land in the pampas which is available for grazing is greatly curtailed.

    Argentina | W. A. Hirst
  • The tall pampas-grass, with its long feathery plumes, gives a profitable crop.

    Stories of California | Ella M. Sexton
  • They descend from the Andes, traverse the pampas from east to west, and empty themselves into the saline lakes.

    The Desert World | Arthur Mangin
  • As a rough guess, beyond those tremendous highlands lay the plains of Lower Argentina—the black, wind-swept, semidesert pampas.

British Dictionary definitions for pampas

pampas

/ (ˈpæmpəz) /


noun
  1. (functioning as singular or more often plural)

    • the extensive grassy plains of temperate South America, esp in Argentina

    • (as modifier): pampas dwellers

Origin of pampas

1
C18: from American Spanish pampa (sing), from Quechua bamba plain

Derived forms of pampas

  • pampean (ˈpæmpɪən, pæmˈpiːən), adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012