mount

¹

[mount]

verb (used with object)

1. to go up; climb; ascend.

   to mount stairs.

   Synonyms: scale
   Antonyms: descend

2. to get up on (a platform, a horse, etc.).

3. to set or place at an elevation.

   to mount a house on stilts.

4. to furnish with a horse or other animal for riding.

5. to set or place (a person) on horseback.

6. to organize, as an army.

7. to prepare and launch, as an attack or a campaign.

8. to raise or put into position for use, as a gun.

9. (of a fortress or warship) to have or carry (guns) in position for use.

10. to go or put on guard, as a sentry or watch.

11. to attach to or fix on or in a support, backing, setting, etc..

    to mount a photograph; to mount a diamond in a ring.

12. to arrange for display.

    to mount a museum exhibit.

13. to provide (a play, musical comedy, opera, etc.) with scenery, costumes, and other equipment for production.

14. to prepare (an animal body or skeleton) as a specimen.

15. (of a male animal) to climb upon (a female) for copulation.

16. Microscopy.

    1. to prepare (a slide) for microscopic investigation.

    2. to prepare (a sample) for examination by a microscope, as by placing it on a slide.

verb (used without object)

1. to increase in amount or intensity (often followed byup ).

   The cost of all those small purchases mounts up.

2. to get up on the back of a horse or other animal for riding.

3. to rise or go to a higher position, level, degree, etc.; ascend.

   Synonyms: soar

4. to get up on something, as a platform.

noun

1. the act or a manner of mounting.

2. a horse, other animal, or sometimes a vehicle, as a bicycle, used, provided, or available for riding.

   Synonyms: palfrey, charger, steed, horse

3. an act or occasion of riding a horse, especially in a race.

4. a support, backing, setting, or the like, on or in which something is, or is to be, mounted or fixed.

5. an ornamental metal piece applied to a piece of wooden furniture.

6. Microscopy.,  a prepared slide.

7. a distinctive metal feature on a sheath or scabbard, as a locket or chape.

8. Philately.,  hinge.

9. Printing.,  a wooden or metal block to which a plate is secured for printing.

mount

²

[mount]

noun

Chiefly Literary.

1. a mountain: often used as part of a placename.

mount

¹

/ maʊnt /

verb

1. to go up (a hill, stairs, etc); climb

2. to get up on (a horse, a platform, etc)

3. io increase; accumulate

   excitement mounted

4. (tr) to fix onto a backing, setting, or support

   to mount a photograph

   to mount a slide

5. (tr) to provide with a horse for riding, or to place on a horse

6. (of male animals) to climb onto (a female animal) for copulation

7. (tr) to prepare (a play, musical comedy, etc) for production

8. (tr) to plan and organize (a compaign, an exhibition, etc)

9. (tr) military to prepare or launch (an operation)

   the Allies mounted an offensive

10. (tr) to prepare (a skeleton, dead animal, etc) for exhibition as a specimen

11. (tr) to place or carry (weapons) in such a position that they can be fired

12. See guard

noun

1. a backing, setting, or support onto which something is fixed

2. the act or manner of mounting

3. a horse for riding

4. a slide used in microscopy

5. philately

   1. a small transparent pocket in an album for a postage stamp

   2. another word for hinge

mount

²

/ maʊnt /

noun

1. a mountain or hill: used in literature and (when cap.) in proper names

   Mount Everest

2. (in palmistry) any of the seven cushions of flesh on the palm of the hand

Other Word Forms

• mounter noun
• mountable adjective
• mountless adjective
• unmountable adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of mount¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English mounten, from Old French munter, monter, Vulgar Latin (unattested) montāre, derivative of Latin mont- (stem of mōns ) mount ²

Origin of mount²

First recorded before 900; Middle English mount(e), mont, munt(e), Old English munt “mount, hill, mountain,” from Latin mont- (inflectional stem of mōns ) “mountain, hill”

Word History and Origins

Origin of mount¹

C16: from Old French munter, from Vulgar Latin montāre (unattested) from Latin mons _mount ²

Origin of mount²

Old English munt, from Latin mons mountain, but influenced in Middle English by Old French mont

Synonym Study

See climb.

Example Sentences

Another lesson from the proposed strike: If employers won’t protect their employees from unions, it’s a signal to every red-state governor and Legislature that they need to mount a more vigorous defense of workers’ paychecks.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

In 2011, the museum mounted an enormously successful exhibition of the Harris material, and Harris’s work is now permanently available in a dedicated gallery.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

The very spirit of enterprise that lured Smithson’s money in the first place could also be associated with a kind of restlessness, mounting recurring challenges to the established order.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

But for all the calculated cruelty and blind ignorance, there is a humorous angle to the conditions on Parris Island: The intimate living conditions, the constant showering, the “blouses,” the “mounting.”

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Evidence of a squeezed middle class is mounting.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• build 
• escalate 
• expand 
• heighten 
• intensify 
• rise