MEADOW definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary (2025)

Table of Contents

meadow Image of meadow in British English meadow in American English meadow in American English Examples of 'meadow' in a sentence COBUILD Collocations

COBUILD frequency band

meadow

(medoʊ )

Word forms: plural meadows

countable noun

A meadow is a field which has grass and flowers growing in it.

We cross the stream and head for the meadow.

Synonyms: field, pasture, grassland, ley More Synonyms of meadow

Image of

meadow

meadow in British English

(ˈmɛdəʊ )

noun

an area of grassland, often used for hay or for grazing of animals

a low-lying piece of grassland, often boggy and near a river

Derived forms

meadowy (ˈmeadowy)

adjective

Word origin

Old English mædwe, from mǣd mead2; related to māwan to mow1

COBUILD frequency band

meadow in American English

(ˈmɛdoʊ )

noun

a piece of grassland, esp. one used as a pasture or whose grass is grown for use as hay

low, level grassland near a stream, lake, etc.

Derived forms

meadowy (ˈmeadowy)

adjective

Word origin

ME medow < OE mædwe, oblique case of mæd < Gmc *mædwa- < IE base *mē-, to mow1

COBUILD frequency band

meadow in American English

(ˈmedou)

noun

a tract of grassland used for pasture or serving as a hayfield

a tract of grassland in an upland area near the timberline

SYNONYMS 1. green, range, field.

Derived forms

meadowless

adjective

meadowy

adjective

Word origin

[bef. 1000; ME medwe, OE mǣdw-, obl. s. of mǣd mead2; akin to G Matte]

Examples of 'meadow' in a sentence

meadow

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We were told that meadow grass inhibits trees.

Times, Sunday Times (2012)

Part of her own garden is a wildflower meadow.

Eddison, Sydney A Patchwork Garden: Unexpected Pleasures from a Country Garden (1990)

We hope this ban becomes permanent and our rivers and meadows are allowed to recover.

Times, Sunday Times (2006)

It is also surrounded by ancient oak forests and wildflower meadows.

The Sun (2015)

Hay meadows as complex ecosystems may be more resistant.

Times, Sunday Times (2010)

In summer wildflowers dusted the meadows and we fished for trout in the little streams and the pond.

Aidan Hartley THE ZANZIBAR CHEST: A Memoir of Love and War (2003)

Lying between two rivers the meadow is sometimes flooded in winter which deposits fertile silt and inhibits frost.

Perring, Franklyn A Guide to Britain's Conservation Heritage (1991)

These sites include woodland, meadows and farming land.

Times, Sunday Times (2008)

Sand dunes, salt marsh and grazing meadows.

Perring, Franklyn A Guide to Britain's Conservation Heritage (1991)

All have views of meadows, woodland and moors, and guests can get up close with farm animals and wildlife.

Times, Sunday Times (2016)

COBUILD Collocations

meadow

mountain meadows

rolling meadows

seagrass meadows