dustbowl
Wind-stripped barren land
A dustbowl is a region where drought and poor land management have stripped away topsoil, leaving barren, wind-eroded terrain.
The term comes from the 1930s Dust Bowl, when severe drought devastated the American Great Plains, creating massive dust storms and displacing thousands of farmers.
Figuratively, any parched, desolate area: The yard was a dustbowl by August.
1930s global economic crisis
- Black SundayDevastating 1935 dust storm
- 1930sFourth decade, twentieth century
- OkiesDust Bowl refugees, informally
- New DealDepression-era reform agenda
Hoovervilles · Route 66 · FSA · John Steinbeck · Grapes of Wrath · Woody Guthrie · migrant workers · resettlement
South Central U.S. state
- TexasSecond-largest American state
- KansasCentral American plains state
- ColoradoWestern rectangular state
- New MexicoSouthwestern U.S. state
Great Plains · panhandle · prairie · High Plains · Midwest · No Man's Land · shortgrass · flatland
Dust Bowl refugees, informally
- Route 66Historic cross-country highway
- CaliforniaWest coast megastate
- migrant workersPeople moving for jobs
- exodusMass departure from somewhere
resettlement · farmworkers · Hoovervilles · displacement · refugees · caravans · jalopy · labor camps
Absence of moisture
- parchedExtremely dry or thirsty
- desiccationComplete removal of moisture
- drynessAbsence of moisture
- cracked earthDried ground with fissures
scorched · sunbaked · rainless · withered · wilted · waterless · bone-dry · heat wave
Nutrient-rich surface earth
- wind erosionLand worn by air
- deflationSustained decrease in prices
- black blizzardSevere dust storm
- rollerRotating cylindrical tool
silt · gullying · overgrazing · soil loss · drifts · buried · sandblasting · sediment
Cultivating land for food
- plowingTurning earth for crops
- wheatCereal crop for flour
- cropsCultivated plants for harvest
- harvestGathering mature crops
failed harvest · fallow · tractors · combine · homestead · sharecropping · dry farming · overplowing
State of complete emptiness
- despairTotal absence of hope
- povertySevere lack of resources
- starvationExtreme nutritional deprivation
- hopelessnessState without hope
suffering · foreclosure · eviction · silicosis · hunger · loss · ruin · survival
Great Depression
1930s global economic crisis
- Black SundayDevastating 1935 dust storm
- 1930sFourth decade, twentieth century
- OkiesDust Bowl refugees, informally
New Deal · Hoovervilles · Route 66 · FSA · John Steinbeck · Grapes of Wrath · Woody Guthrie · migrant workers · resettlement · relief programs
Oklahoma
South Central U.S. state
- TexasSecond-largest American state
- KansasCentral American plains state
- ColoradoWestern rectangular state
New Mexico · Great Plains · panhandle · prairie · High Plains · Midwest · No Man's Land · shortgrass · flatland · homestead
Okies
Dust Bowl refugees, informally
- Route 66Historic cross-country highway
- CaliforniaWest coast megastate
- migrant workersPeople moving for jobs
exodus · resettlement · farmworkers · Hoovervilles · displacement · refugees · caravans · jalopy · labor camps · squatter camps
aridity
Absence of moisture
- parchedExtremely dry or thirsty
- desiccationComplete removal of moisture
- drynessAbsence of moisture
cracked earth · scorched · sunbaked · rainless · withered · wilted · waterless · bone-dry · heat wave · dried up
topsoil
Nutrient-rich surface earth
- wind erosionLand worn by air
- deflationSustained decrease in prices
- black blizzardSevere dust storm
roller · silt · gullying · overgrazing · soil loss · drifts · buried · sandblasting · sediment
farming
Cultivating land for food
harvest · failed harvest · fallow · tractors · combine · homestead · sharecropping · dry farming · overplowing · cotton
desolation
State of complete emptiness
- despairTotal absence of hope
- povertySevere lack of resources
- starvationExtreme nutritional deprivation
hopelessness · suffering · foreclosure · eviction · silicosis · hunger · loss · ruin · survival · endurance
- desertsSahara, Gobi, Mojave, Namib, Kalahari
- frontier historypioneers, settlers, homesteaders, frontier tales, westward expansion
dustbowlwetland
Waterlogged land ecosystem
swamp · marshland · rainforest · oasis · marsh
dustbowlbreadbasket
Major grain-producing region
garden · granary · agricultural heartland · farmland · orchard
dust, bowl, dusty, dusting, duster, bowling, dusted, bowled, bowler