extensive tracts of heavily eroded, uncultivable land with little vegetation (侵蚀而成)贫瘠地带,不毛之地 ■(Badlands)a barren plateau region of the western US, mainly in North and South Dakota and Nebraska (美国西部南、北达科他州和内布拉斯加州)荒漠高原区
语源
mid 19th cent. (originally US): translation of French mauvaises terres