karoo

noun, plural ka·roos for 2.

1. a vast plateau in the Republic of South Africa, in Cape of Good Hope province. 100,000 sq. mi. (260,000 sq. km); 3000–4000 feet (900–1200 meters) above sea level.
2. (lowercase) an arid South African tableland with red clay soil.

noun plural -roos (often not capital)

1. any of several high arid plateaus in South Africa, esp the Central Karoo and the Little Karoo. The highveld, north of the Central Karoo, is sometimes called the Northern Karoo
2. a period or rock system in Southern Africa equivalent to the period or system extending from the Upper Carboniferous to the Lower Jurassic: divided into Lower and Upper Karoo

adjective

3. of, denoting, or formed in the Karoo period

n.

“barren table land in South Africa,” 1789, said to be from a Hottentot word.

1. A semiarid plateau. The most well-known karoos cover nearly 400,000 sq km (156,000 sq mi) of southern Africa. Karoos are terrace shaped and characterized by low scrub vegetation.