Pam"pas (?), n. pl. [Sp., fr. Peruv. pampa a field, plain.]

Vast plains in the central and southern part of the Argentine Republic in South America. The term is sometimes used in a wider sense for the plains extending from Bolivia to Southern Patagonia.

Pampas cat Zool., a South American wild cat (Felis pajeros). It has oblique transverse bands of yellow or brown. It is about three and a half feet long. Called also straw cat. -- Pampas deer Zool., a small, reddish-brown, South American deer (Cervus, ∨ Blastocerus, campestris). -- Pampas grass Bot., a very tall ornamental grass (Gynerium argenteum) with a silvery-white silky panicle. It is a native of the pampas of South America.

 

© Webster 1913.

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