Prairie \Prai"rie\, n. [F., an extensive meadow, OF. praerie, LL. prataria, fr. L. pratum a meadow.] 1. An extensive tract of level or rolling land, destitute of trees, covered with coarse grass, and usually characterized by a deep, fertile soil. They abound throughout the Mississippi valley, between the Alleghanies and the Rocky mountains.
From the forests and the prairies, From the great lakes of the northland. --Longfellow.
2. A meadow or tract of grass; especially, a so called natural meadow.
{Prairie chicken} (Zo["o]l.), any American grouse of the genus {Tympanuchus}, especially {Tympanuchus Americanus} (formerly {Tympanuchus cupido}), which inhabits the prairies of the central United States. Applied also to the sharp-tailed grouse.
{Prairie clover} (Bot.), any plant of the leguminous genus {Petalostemon}, having small rosy or white flowers in dense terminal heads or spikes. Several species occur in the prairies of the United States.
{Prairie dock} (Bot.), a coarse composite plant ({Silphium terebinthaceum}) with large rough leaves and yellow flowers, found in the Western prairies.
{Prairie dog} (Zo["o]l.), a small American rodent ({Cynomys Ludovicianus}) allied to the marmots. It inhabits the plains west of the Mississippi. The prairie dogs burrow in the ground in large warrens, and have a sharp bark like that of a dog. Called also {prairie marmot}.
{Prairie grouse}. Same as {Prairie chicken}, above.
{Prairie hare} (Zo["o]l.), a large long-eared Western hare ({Lepus campestris}). See {Jack rabbit}, under 2d {Jack}.
{Prairie hawk}, {Prairie falcon} (Zo["o]l.), a falcon of Western North America ({Falco Mexicanus}). The upper parts are brown. The tail has transverse bands of white; the under parts, longitudinal streaks and spots of brown.
{Prairie hen}. (Zo["o]l.) Same as {Prairie chicken}, above.
{Prairie itch} (Med.), an affection of the skin attended with intense itching, which is observed in the Northern and Western United States; -- also called {swamp itch}, {winter itch}.
{Prairie marmot}. (Zo["o]l.) Same as {Prairie dog}, above.
{Prairie mole} (Zo["o]l.), a large American mole ({Scalops argentatus}), native of the Western prairies.
{Prairie pigeon}, {Prairie plover}, or {Prairie snipe} (Zo["o]l.), the upland plover. See {Plover}, n., 2.
{Prairie rattlesnake} (Zo["o]l.), the massasauga.
{Prairie snake} (Zo["o]l.), a large harmless American snake ({Masticophis flavigularis}). It is pale yellow, tinged with brown above.
{Prairie squirrel} (Zo["o]l.), any American ground squirrel of the genus {Spermophilus}, inhabiting prairies; -- called also {gopher}.
{Prairie turnip} (Bot.), the edible turnip-shaped farinaceous root of a leguminous plant ({Psoralea esculenta}) of the Upper Missouri region; also, the plant itself. Called also {pomme blanche}, and {pomme de prairie}.
{Prairie warbler} (Zo["o]l.), a bright-colored American warbler ({Dendroica discolor}). The back is olive yellow, with a group of reddish spots in the middle; the under parts and the parts around the eyes are bright yellow; the sides of the throat and spots along the sides, black; three outer tail feathers partly white.
{Prairie wolf}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Coyote}.
Gun \Gun\ (g[u^]n), n. [OE. gonne, gunne; of uncertain origin; cf. Ir., Gael., & LL. gunna, W. gum; possibly (like cannon) fr. L. canna reed, tube; or abbreviated fr. OF. mangonnel, E. mangonel, a machine for hurling stones.] 1. A weapon which throws or propels a missile to a distance; any firearm or instrument for throwing projectiles, consisting of a tube or barrel closed at one end, in which the projectile is placed, with an explosive charge (such as guncotton or gunpowder) behind, which is ignited by various means. Pistols, rifles, carbines, muskets, and fowling pieces are smaller guns, for hand use, and are called {small arms}. Larger guns are called {cannon}, {ordnance}, {fieldpieces}, {carronades}, {howitzers}, etc. See these terms in the Vocabulary.
As swift as a pellet out of a gunne When fire is in the powder runne. --Chaucer.
The word gun was in use in England for an engine to cast a thing from a man long before there was any gunpowder found out. --Selden.
2. (Mil.) A piece of heavy ordnance; in a restricted sense, a cannon.
3. pl. (Naut.) Violent blasts of wind.
Note: Guns are classified, according to their construction or manner of loading as {rifled} or {smoothbore}, {breech-loading} or {muzzle-loading}, {cast} or {built-up guns}; or according to their use, as {field}, {mountain}, {prairie}, {seacoast}, and {siege guns}.
{Armstrong gun}, a wrought iron breech-loading cannon named after its English inventor, Sir William Armstrong.
{Big gun} or {Great gun}, a piece of heavy ordnance; hence (Fig.), a person superior in any way; as, bring in the big guns to tackle the problem.
{Gun barrel}, the barrel or tube of a gun.
{Gun carriage}, the carriage on which a gun is mounted or moved.
{Gun cotton} (Chem.), a general name for a series of explosive nitric ethers of cellulose, obtained by steeping cotton in nitric and sulphuric acids. Although there are formed substances containing nitric acid radicals, yet the results exactly resemble ordinary cotton in appearance. It burns without ash, with explosion if confined, but quietly and harmlessly if free and open, and in small quantity. Specifically, the lower nitrates of cellulose which are insoluble in ether and alcohol in distinction from the highest (pyroxylin) which is soluble. See {Pyroxylin}, and cf. {Xyloidin}. The gun cottons are used for blasting and somewhat in gunnery: for making celluloid when compounded with camphor; and the soluble variety (pyroxylin) for making collodion. See {Celluloid}, and {Collodion}. Gun cotton is frequenty but improperly called {nitrocellulose}. It is not a nitro compound, but an ester of nitric acid.
{Gun deck}. See under {Deck}.
{Gun fire}, the time at which the morning or the evening gun is fired.
{Gun metal}, a bronze, ordinarily composed of nine parts of copper and one of tin, used for cannon, etc. The name is also given to certain strong mixtures of cast iron.
{Gun port} (Naut.), an opening in a ship through which a cannon's muzzle is run out for firing.
{Gun tackle} (Naut.), the blocks and pulleys affixed to the side of a ship, by which a gun carriage is run to and from the gun port.
{Gun tackle purchase} (Naut.), a tackle composed of two single blocks and a fall. --Totten.
{Krupp gun}, a wrought steel breech-loading cannon, named after its German inventor, Herr Krupp.
{Machine gun}, a breech-loading gun or a group of such guns, mounted on a carriage or other holder, and having a reservoir containing cartridges which are loaded into the gun or guns and fired in rapid succession. In earlier models, such as the {Gatling gun}, the cartridges were loaded by machinery operated by turning a crank. In modern versions the loading of cartidges is accomplished by levers operated by the recoil of the explosion driving the bullet, or by the pressure of gas within the barrel. Several hundred shots can be fired in a minute by such weapons, with accurate aim. The {Gatling gun}, {Gardner gun}, {Hotchkiss gun}, and {Nordenfelt gun}, named for their inventors, and the French {mitrailleuse}, are machine guns.
{To blow great guns} (Naut.), to blow a gale. See {Gun}, n., 3. [1913 Webster +PJC]
Instead, local hunters opt for the area's fantastic quail or pheasant hunting, which share most of the prairie chicken's three-month season (November through January).
Cajun more accurately, they say, can be divided into two major regional dialects, known as bayou Cajun and prairie Cajun, plus a jambalaya of subregional dialects.
Two prairie falcons flew over, and afterward, two vultures.
"Both parents care for the young, and the mother prairie vole searches frantically if a pup gets lost," Dr. Insel says.
The shooters' pace was deliberate and careful, with a shot coming about once every five minutes when a prairie dog poked his head into the air.
If we called them prairie rats or prairie rodents there wouldn't be that connotation," he said.
If we called them prairie rats or prairie rodents there wouldn't be that connotation," he said.
Next year the rains will come, the prairie fires (or locust or 'hoppers or blizzards) won't.
Although there was enough snow on the prairie this winter to bring some hope for a recovery of the continent's duck population, there's little chance of a rebound this fall.
A roaring prairie fire veered away from Mount Rushmore yesterday after chasing a thousand residents and tourists from the area, while another huge grass fire was stopped 10 miles short of the Alaska pipeline, the Associated Press reported.
There's nobody home in Yturria, Texas, except maybe a few prairie dogs and armadillos.
The Land Institute, which Jackson and his wife founded in 1976, uses the prairie as its standard for a new agriculture.
Many here refer glowingly to the "prairie ethic," the toughness of the early German and Scandinavian settlers who a century ago turned this harsh land into the nation's leading wheat producer.
The vets raise their own hamsters and isolate captured prairie dogs before feeding them to the ferrets to ensure a disease-free meal.
Two prairie pioneer clans are inviting one and all to their first joint reunion, where activities include a watermelon-seed spitting contest, men's hammer throw and women's skillet toss.
Shadow Glen, a new $16 million club near Kansas City, has recruited a state biologist to plant prairie grass around the golf course and release flocks of ruffed grouse, a species long absent from the area.
The prairie vole tends to be loving, quick to play and cuddle with the opposite sex, and it lives in family groups.
The Kansas prairie that surrounded him is home to some of America's most magnificent whitetail and mule deer.
During an average day spent hunting prairie chickens, Mr. Smyth estimates his hunters can see in excess of 200 prairie chickens.
During an average day spent hunting prairie chickens, Mr. Smyth estimates his hunters can see in excess of 200 prairie chickens.
Measures such as controlling prairie fires and avoiding overgrazing have even improved the land, they said.
About 200 American firefighters are helping Canadian crews battle hundreds of forest fires raging across the drought-parched prairie provinces and northern Ontario.
This year it had 10. Generally the reports from all across the prairie are of deterioriation of this magnitude," Sparrow said.
In a continuining saga titled "Meltdown on the Mesa," Slocum and other bunkhouse badmen tried to use a nuclear reactor against prairie dogs.
A prairie brome grass called Matua from New Zealand shows promise for the eastern United States.
"A large eastward expansion of prairie forb abundances across the northern U.S.," is likely, they said, referring to the non-grass plants that cover the prairies north and west of the Great Lakes.
"These are troubled times," said the 44-year-old troubadour, born in the prairie town of Ft. Macleod, Alberta, and now living in Los Angeles.
Nucla Mayor John Vanderpool, who wore a flak jacket all weekend after receiving death threats, said local merchants reported "everything has at least tripled" because of the prairie dog shoot.
We give them kind of a cute and furry little attribute, so we call them prairie dogs.
Wild lisianthus grows throughout the American prairie region, he said.