karoo

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Related to karoos: Great Karroo

Ka·roo

 (kə-ro͞o′)
See Karroo.

ka·roo

also kar·roo (kə-ro͞o′)
n. pl. ka·roos also kar·roos
An arid plateau of southern Africa.

[Afrikaans, from Nama !garo-b, veld, grazing land.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Karoo

(kəˈruː) or

Karroo

n (often not capital) , pl -roos
1. (Placename) 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. (Geological Science) 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
adj
(Geological Science) of, denoting, or formed in the Karoo period
[C18: from Afrikaans karo, probably from Khoikhoi garo desert]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
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References in classic literature ?
Just below our encampment flowed a little stream, on the farther side of which is a stony slope, the same down which, twenty years before, I had seen poor Silvestre creeping back after his attempt to reach Solomon's Mines, and beyond that slope begins the waterless desert, covered with a species of karoo shrub.
But to my mind the chances of our finding it in that great sea of sand and karoo scrub seemed almost infinitesimal.
"I have it," said Good, "we must dig a hole, get in it, and cover ourselves with the karoo bushes."
Its overnight Trans Karoo service from Jo'burg Cape Town, taking just over a whole day, is priced at a fraction of the Blue Train - the luxury sleeper which offers the same route.
sThe journey rumbles out through Soweto and the townships, heading for the vast open plateau of the Karoo desert itself, its huge emptiness broken by the occasional diamond prospecting town such as Kimberley.
Hy ken al die belangrike skrywers en kunstenaars van die Karoo--Gert Vlok Nel en Beaufort-Wes; Karel Schoeman en Trompsburg; Schreiner en haar Karoo; A.
This article records how the quality of nothingness, which characterises South Africa's arid Karoo in the public mind, has been transformed in recent times from a perceived liability into a touristic asset.
The early history of astronomy at the Cape is briefly summarised to contextualise current astronomical developments taking place in the Karoo. It is shown how neatly these initiatives dovetail with current government policies intended to secure South Africa's participation in the global knowledge economy.
It is argued that this phenomenon opens the way for the Karoo to capitalise on 'astrotourism', conceived of as an earthbound form of space tourism.
The concept of 'Karoo space' is revealed as itself being multi-facetted in that it marries externals with thoughts and feelings evoked by the experience of the Sublime.
The article concludes with a short assessment of how astro-tourism might contribute towards the socio-economic upliftment of the Karoo communities affected by it.
The Karoo, given its marginal status, is well-served by a disproportionately large body of travel and fictional writing.