meadow

noun

mead·​ow ˈme-(ˌ)dō 

often attributive

: land that is covered or mostly covered with grass

wildflowers blooming in the meadow

especially : a tract of moist low-lying usually level grassland

meadowy

ˈme-də-wē 

adjective

Examples of meadow in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Opt to ride in open meadows, on mountain trails, in the desert Southwest. —Lynn O'Rourke Hayes, Boston Herald, 2 Feb. 2025

Roughly 20 miles of the Towpath sit inside the park, passing through small towns and meadows full of wildflowers, like trillium and bloodroot, with deer and foxes along the way. —Graham Averill, Outside Online, 21 Jan. 2025

The pool could have been situated well away from trees, in the meadow outside the back door, but who wants to wreck a meadow? —John McPhee, The New Yorker, 13 Jan. 2025

The Sound of Music where the camera swoops over the Austrian alps and zeros in on a distant Julie Andrews dancing in a mountain meadow. —New Atlas, 12 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English medwe, medowe "grassland kept for hay, pasture field," going back to Old English mǣdwe, oblique singular case form of mǣd, going back to West Germanic *mēdwō- (whence also Old Frisian mēde "pasture, meadow," Middle Dutch māde, mēde), noun derivative from the verbal base *mē- "reap, mow" — more at mow entry 2

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing meadow

• meadow beauty
• meadow fescue
• meadow grass
• meadow mushroom
• meadow nematode
• meadow rue
• meadow saffron
• meadow spittlebug
• meadow vole
• water meadow

Rhymes for meadow

• acknow
• aglow
• ago
• airglow
• aloe
• altho
• although
• ammo
• backflow
• backhoe
• banjo
• barbeau

Kids Definition

meadow

noun

mead·​ow ˈmed-ō 

: an area of moist low usually level grassland