col
noun
a pass or depression in a mountain range or ridge.
col
1 American
[kol, kawl]
/ kɒl, kɔl /
noun
-
cols
plural
-
Physical Geography. a pass or depression in a mountain range or ridge.
-
Meteorology. the region of relatively low pressure between two anticyclones.
COL
2
American
col-
3
American
col-
4
American
col.
5
American
abbreviation
col.
6
American
abbreviation
-
collected.
-
collector.
-
college.
-
collegiate.
-
colonial.
-
colony.
-
color.
-
colored.
-
column.
Col.
7
American
abbreviation
-
Colombia.
-
Colonel.
-
Colorado.
-
Bible. Colossians.
Col.
1
British
abbreviation
-
Colombia(n)
-
Colonel
-
Bible Colossians
col
2
British
/ kɒl, kɔl /
noun
-
the lowest point of a ridge connecting two mountain peaks, often constituting a pass
-
meteorol a pressure region between two anticyclones and two depressions, associated with variable weather
col-
3
British
prefix
col-
4
British
prefix
col.
5
British
abbreviation
Usage
What does col- mean? Col- is a combining form used like a prefix representing the word colon, the part of the large intestine extending from the cecum to the rectum. It is often used in medical terms. Col- comes from the Greek kólon, meaning “large intestine.” The Greek kólon is also the source of such words as colic and colicky, a word which many parents may know all too well. Col-, when it refers to the colon, is a variant of colo-, which loses its -o- when combined with words or word elements beginning with vowels. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use colo- article.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of col1
1850–55; < French < Latin collum neck
Origin of col.5
From the Latin word colā
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.
See Examples For:
On Friday, that low pressure is expected to clear away and leave the UK in a col, or neutral weather zone, with neither high or low pressure in charge.
From BBC ● May 4, 2026
Those textures — others come along, including percussive col legno and open fifths that flip steady ground into weightless suspension — glide among the instruments, a vocabulary ordered then reordered, always expressing a fresh thought.
From New York Times ● Apr. 21, 2023
There, two summit finishes — the col du Granon, at 2,413 metres above sea level, then l’Alpe d’Huez and its 21 hairpin bends — will prove a tough challenge for the peloton.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 14, 2021
She eats a lot of pasta, and the song is talking about the pappa col pomodoro, so it felt really fun to mix the two.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2021
The col under the North-west buttress at the head of the Rongbuk Glacier is one entrance, and our col of July 13, with how big a drop one knows not, another.
From Mount Everest the Reconnaissance, 1921 by Charles Kenneth Howard-Bury
ReelShort is owned by Crazy Maple Studio, a company in Northern California that is backed by the Beijing-based digital publisher COL Group.
From New York Times ● Jan. 30, 2024
The payment reference for bank accounts will be the recipient's National Insurance number, followed by DWP COL.
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2023
You’re sharing that, even with the advance of your inheritance, you still might not be able to find a home you can afford because of the high COL area and your income.
From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2022
COL D’IZOARD, France — On the highest mountain-top finish of the 104th Tour de France, in a rocky moonscape where the air thins, only the hardiest organisms survive.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 20, 2017
Who have ye here, honest colliers? 2D COL.
From A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 8 by William Carew Hazlitt
Making humorous messages pop up on col- leagues' screens or taking remote control of a keyboard were more mischief than malice.
From Salon ● Mar. 14, 2020
Population of the Netherlands and its col- onies and possessions: 56,399,932.
From Time Magazine Archive
Other great pictures in the Clarke col- lection: Mrs. Richard Yates. by Gilbert Stuart, as a hawk-nosed old lady in white lace cap and satin gown stitching away at her fancy work.
From Time Magazine Archive
Unkind are pictures of bewhiskered, bejuleped col- onels.
From Time Magazine Archive
One night after I been hauling cane for so many weeks that my hands are like leather, I go to the col- mado as always for a cup of rice to feed Donay and me.
From "Taste of Salt: A Story of Modern Haiti" by Frances Temple
July 30, 1925 Sirs: Issue of July 27, Page 15, 2d col.:
From Time Magazine Archive
Vol. viii., p. 596., col. 2., for "The lodge, an old wooden house," read "stone house."
From Notes and Queries A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Geneologists, etc by Various
For Illustrated Magazine, three poems and a five col. story.'
From A Book of Irish Verse Selected from modern writers with an introduction and notes by W. B. Yeats by W. B. (William Butler) Yeats
No. 72., p. 213., col. 2., l. 17., for "authority" read "authorship."
From Notes and Queries, Number 73, March 22, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by George Bell
London gossip, and a leader one col., and one col. of verse for the Nation.
From A Book of Irish Verse Selected from modern writers with an introduction and notes by W. B. Yeats by W. B. (William Butler) Yeats
“He enriched our lives and bound our group with love, care and respect. Not sure how we can go on without his glowing smile and deep friendship. We love you Col. Rest in Peace.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 19, 2024
“The most popular soap opera on television this week starred Lt. Col. Oliver North in the continuing saga of the Iran-Contra hearings,” United Press International reported.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 9, 2022
"This campaign of intimidation and retaliation has had severe and deeply personal ramifications for Lt. Col. Vindman," the lawsuit claims.
From Salon ● Feb. 24, 2022
“At the Chaplains Corps, the slogan is ‘perform or provide,’ “said Fort Huachuca Garrison Chaplain Lt. Col. Shay Worthy. “The services that we can perform, we perform.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 30, 2022
“Aw, c'mon, Col. You screwed this one up, bro, not him.”
From "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green
The penultimate parcours took us up the cols du Telegraph and Galibier, where the midday sun and too much caution with a fully-loaded bike combined to melt my disc brake pads until just metal remained.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 18, 2019
The innovation of this year’s Tour: a summit finish on one of the most legendary cols in the race, with the Col de Vars beforehand.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 29, 2017
Our pilot deftly navigated the helicopter up and over cols, passing close enough to some peaks that glacier-formed striations in the cliff bands and the snow’s weather-sculpted textures were clearly discernible.
From New York Times ● Apr. 3, 2014
So gradual is the ascent and so continual the little cols which have to be surmounted, that a man does not notice how much upward he is being led towards the crest of the ridge.
From Hills and the Sea by Hilaire Belloc
They have improved indeed, and I was glad, a road from the entrance to the forest on the main road from Hyères to Cogolin, turning to the north over two cols to Collobrières.
From The Life of the Rt. Hon. Sir Charles W. Dilke, Volume 2 by Stephen Lucius Gwynn
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.
