wilderness

wilderness
noun
ADJECTIVE
last
great, vast

Antarctica, the last great wilderness

barren, desert, desolate, howling (esp. AmE)

He depicted the frontier as a howling wilderness inhabited by uncivilized savages.

frozen
remote
trackless (esp. AmE), uncharted
pristine, unspoiled
designated, protected (both AmE)

The trail passes through a federally designated wilderness.

mountain
Alaskan, Arctic, Canadian, etc.
political (figurative)

the man who brought the party back from the political wilderness

VERB + WILDERNESS
tame, transform

They transformed the wilderness into a garden.

explore

They set out to explore the continent's last great wilderness.

preserve, protect (both esp. AmE)
WILDERNESS + NOUN
area (esp. AmE)

officially designated wilderness areas and wildlife refuges

preservation, protection (both esp. AmE)
years (figurative, esp. BrE)

His wilderness years (= when he was out of politics and the public eye) in the 1990s were spent in Canada.

PREPOSITION
in the wilderness

We were hopelessly lost in the wilderness.


Collocations dictionary. 2013.

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  • WILDERNESS — or desert; (Heb. צִיָּה ,יְשִׁימוֹן ,מִדְבָּר). In most biblical passages midbar refers principally to an uninhabited, uncultivated land (e.g., Jer. 2:2; 22:6; Ps. 107:4, 33–36) but sometimes also denotes complete desolation (e.g., Num. 20:4–5;… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Wilderness — Wilderness …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Wilderness — Wil der*ness, n. [OE. wildernesse, wilderne,probably from AS. wildor a wild beast; cf. D. wildernis wilderness. See {Wilder}, v. t.] [1913 Webster] 1. A tract of land, or a region, uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings, whether a forest or …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • wilderness — UK US /ˈwɪldənəs/ noun [C, usually singular] ● in the wilderness Cf. in the wilderness …   Financial and business terms

  • wilderness — ► NOUN 1) an uncultivated, uninhabited, and inhospitable region. 2) a position of disfavour. ● a voice in the wilderness Cf. ↑a voice in the wilderness ORIGIN Old English, «land inhabited only by wild animals»; related to DEER(Cf. ↑ …   English terms dictionary

  • wilderness — c.1200, from O.E. wildeoren wild, savage, from wildern (adj.) wild, savage (from wilde wild + deor animal; see DEER (Cf. deer)) + NESS (Cf. ness). Cf. Du. wildernis, Ger. Wildernis, though the usual form is …   Etymology dictionary

  • wilderness — *waste, desert, badlands …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • wilderness — / wilds [n] uninhabited area back country, back of beyond*, badland, barrens, boondocks, bush, desert, forest, hinterland, jungle, middle of nowhere*, outback, primeval forest, sticks*, waste, wasteland, wild; concept 517 Ant. city, metropolis …   New thesaurus

  • Wilderness — [wil′dər nis] the woodland region in NE Va., south of the Rapidan River: scene of a Civil War battle (May, 1864) between the armies of Grant and Lee …   English World dictionary

  • wilderness — [wil′dər nis] n. [ME wildernesse < wilderne, wild place (< OE wilddeor, wild animal < wilde, WILD + deor, animal, DEER) + nesse, NESS] 1. an uncultivated, uninhabited region; waste; wild 2. any barren, empty, or open area, as of ocean 3 …   English World dictionary

  • Wilderness — For other uses, see Wilderness (disambiguation). Old growth European Beech forest in Biogradska Gora National Park, Montenegro …   Wikipedia

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