mesa
[mey-suh]
- a land formation, less extensive than a plateau, having steep walls and a relatively flat top and common in arid and semiarid parts of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico.
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Origin of mesa
1750–60, Americanism; < Spanish: table < Latin mēnsa
Mesa
[mey-suh]
- a city in central Arizona, near Phoenix.
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La Mesa
[lah mey-suh]
- a city in SW California.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for mesa
Contemporary Examples
The opposition alliance, Mesa de la Unidad, has put forward an aggressive plan to defend the votes.
Mesa and Venturini said they knew Poppo would head back to the parking lot stairwell again that night to sleep.
Mesa and Venturini headed out in their big white van and found Poppo lying down in his stairwell home.
Mitt needed to prevent Rick from winning the Mesa, Ariz., debate, and he accomplished that meager goal.
After almost a month since the last debate, the GOP candidates take to the stage in Mesa, Arizona Wednesday night.
CNN Arizona GOP Debate Live ChatFebruary 22, 2012
Historical Examples
But Mesa had gone to earth in Aragon, and Rubio was with him.
The Historical Nights' EntertainmentRafael Sabatini
At the place where the Soledad trail leaves that of Mesa Blanca.
The Treasure TrailMarah Ellis Ryan
Kit met the band where the trail forked to Palomitas and Mesa Blanca.
The Treasure TrailMarah Ellis Ryan
The mesa lay basking in the dry, hot stillness of the July afternoon.
Out of the DepthsRobert Ames Bennet
“Let us go up on the ridge and look out over our mesa,” she murmured.
Out of the DepthsRobert Ames Bennet
mesa
- a flat tableland with steep edges, common in the southwestern US
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Word Origin
from Spanish: table
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for mesa
n.
"high table land," 1759, from Spanish mesa "plateau," literally "table," from Latin mensa "table" (source of Rumanian masa, Old French moise "table").
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
mesa
[mā′sə]
- An area of high land with a flat top and two or more steep, clifflike sides. Mesas are larger than buttes and smaller than plateaus, and are common in the southwest United States.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.