Meadow

(měd'o.) [A.S. mædewe.] (Agric.) In its most general sense, pasture or gra -land, annually mown for hay; but the term is more particularly applied to lands that are too moist for cattle to graze upon in winter without spoiling the sward. In the U. States, the word applies especially to the low lands lying on the banks of rivers, consisting ofa rich mould or an alluvial soil, whether gra -land, pasture, tillage, or woodland:-it is otherwise known as bottoms or bottom-band. [s. 587]