Cordilleras
Americannoun
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a mountain system in western South America: the Andes and its component ranges.
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a mountain system in western North America, including the Sierra Nevada, Coast Range, Cascade Range, and Rocky Mountains.
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the entire chain of mountain ranges parallel to the Pacific coast, extending from Cape Horn to Alaska.
plural noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of Cordilleras
First recorded in 1700–10, in reference to the Andes; see origin at cordillera ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the valleys between Colombia’s triplicate Cordilleras, you could sip coffee among green hills in the department of Quindío and salsa dance in the lowland city of Cali.
From New York Times • Nov. 17, 2022
In Peru's Rio Santa, which drains the Cordilleras Blanca mountain range, glacier contribution appears to be between 10 and 20 percent.
From Scientific American • Oct. 24, 2011
The mind recoils from the cold massiveness of the Cordilleras, bogs down in tropical swamps half as big as the U.S., is lost on Rivers of Doubt 3,000 miles long.
From Time Magazine Archive
The three Cuban planes, commanded by First Lieutenant Antonio Menendez Pelaez, transatlantic Naval ace, wanting to reach the coast before turning north, started to cross the Cordilleras to the west.
From Time Magazine Archive
Taken together, the Cordilleras and the altiplano make up the Andes, the second-biggest chain of mountains in the world.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
