El Capitan

American  

[el kap-i-tan] / ɛl ˌkæp ɪˈtæn /

noun

1. a mountain in E California, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains: precipice that rises over 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) above Yosemite Valley.

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El Capitan British  

/ ɛl ˌkapɪˈtæn /

noun

1. a mountain in E central California, in the Sierra Nevada: a monolith with a precipice rising over 1100 m (3600 ft) above the floor of the Yosemite Valley. Height: 2306 m (7564 ft)

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Example Sentences

The researchers even created a tiny version of Yosemite's El Capitan.

From Science Daily • Mar. 31, 2026

They found El Capitan a fitting place to make the point that “trans is natural.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 23, 2026

Alex Honnold, who scaled El Capitan in California's Yosemite National Park without a rope in 2017, said on Saturday: "Sadly it's raining in Taipei right now so I don't get to go climbing."

From BBC • Jan. 24, 2026

A few years back, Honnold’s mother Dierdre Wolownick made headlines of her own when she scaled the face of El Capitan on her 70th birthday, becoming the oldest woman to achieve the feat.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 23, 2026

The depot itself, with its peeling sulphur-colored paint, is equally melancholy; the Chief, the Super-Chief, the El Capitan go by every day, but these celebrated expresses never pause there.

From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote