Barren /(băr"ren)/

Bar·ren

Barren

a.
  1. Incapable of producing offspring; producing no young; sterile; -- said of women and female animals.
    She was barren of children.
  2. Not producing vegetation, or useful vegetation; sterile.
  3. Unproductive; fruitless; unprofitable; empty.
    Brilliant but barren reveries.
    Some schemes will appear barren of hints and matter.
  4. Mentally dull; stupid.

Phrases & Compounds
Barren flower
a flower which has only stamens without a pistil, or which has neither stamens nor pistils.
Barren Grounds
a vast tract in British America northward of the forest regions.
Barren Ground bear
a peculiar bear, inhabiting the Barren Grounds, now believed to be a variety of the brown bear of Europe.
Barren Ground caribou
a small reindeer (Rangifer Grœnlandicus) peculiar to the Barren Grounds and Greenland.

Barren

n.
  1. A tract of barren land.
  2. Elevated lands or plains on which grow small trees, but not timber; as, pine barrens; oak barrens. They are not necessarily sterile, and are often fertile. [Amer.]