stepparent

[Pref. -step, and Eng. parent.) A stepfather or stepmother. steppe, subst . [Ru .stepe=a waste, a heath, a steppe.] A term applied to one of those extensive plains which, with the occasional interpolation of low ranges of hills, stretch from the Dnieper acro the southeast of European Ru ia, round the shores of the Caspian and Aral seas, between the Altai and Ural chains, and occupy the low lands of Siberia. In spring they are but for the greater part of the year they are dry and barren. re covered with verdure, There are three different kinds of steppe, viz., gra , salt, and sand steppes, each maintaining peculiar forms of vegetation.