dust bowl

noun

Definition of dust bowlnext
as in desert

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of dust bowl Middle Grade authors are doing everything from talking dogs to neurodivergent narrators in verse to dragon flights to dust bowl family sagas to elite private schools and everything in between. — American Booksellers Association, USA TODAY, 19 Jan. 2025 As a result, much of Maui's west side became a dry dust bowl susceptible to wildfires. — John Wogan, Condé Nast Traveler, 15 July 2024 Well, that was because of all the people that came from the dust bowl out to California to work in the aeronautics industry. — New Atlas, 10 July 2024 Perhaps irony, like water for the swimming pool, is a resource that dries up seasonally in these parts, leaving only a dust bowl of surly resentment and some tatty deckchairs behind. — Jessica Kiang, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2023 See All Example Sentences for dust bowl
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dust bowl
  1. desert
  2. no-man's-land
  3. open air
  4. wasteland
  5. wilderness
  6. wild
Noun
  • Thousands of people began flooding through the entrance gates at midnight for the annual event in which participants create Black Rock City from scratch in the desert about 80 miles north of Reno.
    — Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Pressing the Gravity’s DreamDrive button (located on the steering wheel), for instance, drove me from the Northridge area in northwest Los Angeles to the high desert north of Castaic, California (about a 25-mile drive).
    — Brooke Crothers, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of desert
Noun
  • When this happens, their planet goes back and forth between being a searing, endless stretch of desert or frozen no-man's-land.
    — JP Mangalindan, Peoplemag, 29 Mar. 2024
  • Abandoned by King Hassan II for its association with the Rif mountain revolts after Moroccan independence, in 1956, Tangier became a dilapidated drive-through, a no-man's-land for another 50 years.
    — Stephanie Rafanelli, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Aug. 2023
Definition of no-man's-land
Noun
  • The hydrotherapy is partly open air, which allows the natural soundtrack of the resort’s luscious 44-acre grounds to carry through the air and drenched in natural sunlight.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 Aug. 2026
  • German-speaking Switzerland debuted to $160K at 42 screens, also boosted by pre-release open air and Ladies Night screenings.
    — Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 16 Aug. 2026
Definition of open air
Noun
  • Supposedly posing a threat to their idyll on the outskirts are various marauding splinter groups running amok through the barren wasteland of the American Mountain West.
    — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 25 Aug. 2026
  • The 2015 action film, set in a post-apocalyptic desert wasteland, stars Theron as warrior Imperator Furiosa, who leads the daring escape of female prisoners from a tyrannical ruler.
    — Kirsten Chuba, HollywoodReporter, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of wasteland
Noun
  • The new movie follows a benevolent ex-pilot named Hig (Jacob Elordi) who, after losing his wife during a catastrophic global pandemic, lives out in the wilderness with his dog, Jasper, and ornery isolationist pal Bangley (Josh Brolin).
    — Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026
  • The test may have started as a wild marketing idea, but after five hours of searching through the Swedish wilderness, the team had the intact phone to prove it.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of wilderness
Noun
  • Hall of Famer Greg Maddux threw wild on the ceremonial first pitch with more than 20 members of the Cubs' 150th anniversary team in attendance.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Sending a 10-year-old to sit in a college classroom sounded a little wild.
    — Milena Malaver, Miami Herald, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of wild

Browse Nearby Words

dustbins
dust bowl
dust bowls
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Dust bowl.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dust%20bowl. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on dust bowl

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about dust bowl

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