DCHP-1 Online
badlands 
1 n.pl. an arid region in S. Alberta and S.W. Saskatchewan characterized by severe erosion and weird land formations and containing dinosaur and other fossils.
- 1910 At the same time, a certain amount of horse and cattle stealing . . . was . . . to be laid at the doors of . . . white desperadoes who came up from the border "bad lands."
- 1962 . . . from the Drumheller Badlands . . . came dinosaur bone jewelry.
2 n.pl. swampy wasteland characterized by stunted vegetation, and rock; barrens. Also badland.
See also: muskeg
- 1868 They are divisible into two groups, --a lower . . . to which the name "Bad Lands beds" may be given. . . .
- 1958 Across the Fraser . . . the big ranches . . . and, farther west, the badlands of stunted trees and swampy roads seem to have resisted progress.
- 1966 By their paddles . . . they forge into . . . badland . . . beyond the smog of civilization.
- 1910 At the same time, a certain amount of horse and cattle stealing . . . was . . . to be laid at the doors of . . . white desperadoes who came up from the border "bad lands."