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• mesa
  mesa

  noun

  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.
• Mesa
  Mesa

  noun

  a city in central Arizona, near Phoenix.

mesa

¹ American  

[mey-suh] / ˈmeɪ sə /

noun

1. 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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Mesa ² American  

[mey-suh] / ˈmeɪ sə /

noun

1. a city in central Arizona, near Phoenix.

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mesa British  

/ ˈmeɪsə /

noun

1. a flat tableland with steep edges, common in the southwestern US

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mesa Scientific  

/ mā′sə /

1. 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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Etymology

Origin of mesa

1750–60, < Spanish: table < Latin mēnsa

Explanation

A mesa is a flat-topped hill most commonly found in the Southwest part of the U.S.. Its sides are steep all around so that it looks like a massive table. Mesa comes from the Latin mensa meaning "table," which is very much what a mesa looks like. A mesa is formed when the weaker horizontal rocks around a big formation start to erode and fall away, leaving stronger rocks standing in a flat-topped hill. Grand Mesa in Western Colorado is the largest mesa in the world, with an area of 500 square miles. That's bigger than all of Hong Kong!

Example Sentences

The bank is disappointed by 3Q Alta Mesa production, which it says adds to FY26 weakness for Boss.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 4, 2026

Abundez, the other defendant, was apprehended in June 2025 at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 25, 2026

Vista Murrieta, with a 10-10 record going in, handed No. 1-ranked Murrieta Mesa its first defeat, 10-5, on Tuesday.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 23, 2026

The funding has helped launch defense and aerospace startups across Southern California, including Costa Mesa autonomous weapons maker Anduril Industries, now valued at more than $30 billion.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026

He lived in his hogan on Strawberry Mesa with a woman, Lady Elephant, whose real name was Christina Cupcoe, and whose hometown was Silvermine, Connecticut.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols