Desert Meaning
/ˈdɛz.ət/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA barren area of land or desolate terrain, especially one with little water or vegetation; a wasteland.
nounA barren area of land or desolate terrain, especially one with little water or vegetation; a wasteland., In particular, a barren, arid area of land which is hot, with sandy, rocky, or parched ground.
Sentence Examples
One third of the earth's surface is desert.
Now there is nothing but desert, where there used to be a fertile plain.
The remote desert area is accessible only by helicopter.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The weary soldier decided to ____ his post despite the strict orders.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
One third of the earth's surface is ____.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English desert (“wilderness”), from Old French desert, from Latin dēsertum, past participle of dēserō (“to abandon”). Generally displaced native Old English wēsten. False cognate of Egyptian dšrt.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"And ye poore Pilgrimes, that vvith reſtleſſe toyle
VVearie your ſelues in vvandring deſert vvayes […]"
— 1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], Daphnaïda. An Elegy upon the Death of the Noble and Vertuous Douglas Howard,Daughter and Heire of Henry Lord Howard, Viscount Byndon, and Wife of Arthure Gorges Esquier. […], London: […] [Thomas Orwin] for William Ponsonby, […], →OCLC, signature [C4], recto:
"Not thus the land appear'd in ages past,
A dreary desert and a gloomy waste."
— 1713, [Alexander] Pope, Windsor-Forest. […], London: […] Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC:
"It is wholly out of the power of language to convey any idea of the blissful enjoyment of obtaining water, after an almost total want of it, during eight and forty hours, in the scorching regions of an Arabian desert, in the month of July."
— 1805 December, Julius Griffiths, “A Journey across the Desert”, in The Monthly Mirror, page 362:
"The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom. Whirling wreaths and columns of burning wind, rushed around and over them."
— 1892, James Yoxall, chapter 5, in The Lonely Pyramid:
"He declared that the country was an intellectual desert; that he was famishing for spiritual aliment, and for discourse on matters beyond mere nuggets, prospectings, and the price of gold."
— 1858, William Howitt, Land, Labour, and Gold; Or, Two Years in Victoria, page 54:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The weary soldier decided to ____ his post despite the strict orders.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
One third of the earth's surface is ____.