Rocky Mountains

American  

[rok-ee moun-tnz] / ˈrɒk i ˈmaʊn tnz /

plural noun

1. the chief mountain system in North America, extending from central New Mexico to northern Alaska. Highest peak, Denali, 20,300 feet (6,187 meters).

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Rocky Mountains British  

plural noun

1. the chief mountain system of W North America, extending from British Columbia to New Mexico: forms the Continental Divide. Highest peak: Mount Elbert, 4399 m (14 431 ft). Mount McKinley (6194 m (20 320 ft)), in the Alaska Range, is not strictly part of the Rocky Mountains

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Rocky Mountains Cultural  

1. Major mountain chain of western North America, running from Alaska to Mexico.

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Etymology

Origin of Rocky Mountains

First recorded in 1800–05; translation of Canadian French les Montagnes des Roches, from Cree asini˙waciya, plural of asini˙waciy, equivalent to asini˙-, combining form of asiniy “stone, rock” + waciy “mountain,” originally referring to the Canadian Rockies

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Rocky Mountains

Conditions worsened in 2026 when the river's headwaters in the southern Rocky Mountains experienced the earliest snowmelt on record.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026

An abnormally dry winter resulted in a much-diminished snowpack in the Rocky Mountains, while the scorching temperatures of the hottest July ever recorded in the US have increased evaporation from the lake, he said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

Grandmother Sara Folger sits in the kitchen of her single-wide trailer, the Rocky Mountains looming in the distance, and remembers the Bozeman, Montana she fell in love with decades ago.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

Wildfires pose the greatest reliability risk in the Rocky Mountains, where they can disproportionately affect rural cooperatives, according to NERC.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

By the early 1900s, meatpacking had centralized: nearly 90 percent of all beef inspected east of the Rocky Mountains was processed by six big companies.

From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield

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