Definition of "chaparral" [cha•par•ral]

• Ecology A biome characterized by hot dry summers and cool moist winters and dominated by a dense growth of mostly small-leaved evergreen shrubs, as that found in the foothills of California. (noun)
• A dense thicket of shrubs and small trees. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "On steep hill and mountain slopes too dry to support oak woodland or oak forest, much of the vegetation is scrub or "dwarf forest" know as chaparral, which varies in composition with elevation and exposure."
• "Well the area of Greece, particularly Crete, is a typical location where you have what is called a chaparral environment or biome."
• "The Mediterranean California region is characterized by a mostly evergreen shrub vegetation called chaparral, plus patches of oak woodland, grassland, and some coniferous forest on upper mountain slopes."