Steppe

[Sarah]

One of the vast plains in Southeastern Europe and in Asia,generally elevated, and free from wood, analogous to many of theprairies in Western North America. See Savanna. Steppe murrain.(Far.) See Rinderpest.

[Sarah]

Noun
(German, from Russian step')

1. Specifically, the temperate, semiarid areas of treeless grassland in the midlatitudes of Europe and Asia; more generally, any such grassland.

2. Any locale which can be accurately described only as an abomination (See [Pittsburgh]). The steppe is sometimes detested because it contains an extra p and e within the spelling. More often, however, the steppe is reviled because it contributes absolutely nothing of value to the world.