mountain
[moun-tn]
- a natural elevation of the earth's surface rising more or less abruptly to a summit, and attaining an altitude greater than that of a hill, usually greater than 2000 feet (610 meters).
- a large mass of something resembling this, as in shape or size.
- a huge amount: a mountain of incoming mail.
- (initial capital letter) a steam locomotive having a four-wheeled front truck, eight driving wheels, and a two-wheeled rear truck.
- Also called mountain wine. British Archaic. a sweet Malaga wine.
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- of or relating to mountains: mountain air.
- living, growing, or located in the mountains: mountain people.
- resembling or suggesting a mountain, as in size.
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- make a mountain out of a molehill. molehill(def 2).
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Origin of mountain
1175–1225; Middle English mountaine < Old French montaigne < Vulgar Latin *montānea, noun use of feminine of *montāneus, equivalent to Latin montān(us) mountainous (mont-, stem of mōns mountain + -ānus -an) + -eus adj. suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
ridge, elevation, pile, peak, bluff, cliff, sierra, volcano, pyramid, height, eminence, alp, hump, precipice, glob, drift, dome, heap, mesa, stackExamples from the Web for mountain
Contemporary Examples
Then they came up against a police patrol on mountain bicycles, which again led to more shooting, without injuries.
Also in Germany, he made The Mountain Eagle, which was set, Hitchcock recalled, “in Old Kentucky, wherever that might be.”
There were rumors that Schmidt was motivated by buried treasure or another secret of the mountain, but they were never proven.
Then, he set to work building a shortcut that would take the minable minerals he found through the mountain.
For years, William Schmidt single-handedly dug a tunnel through a mountain to transport his gold-rush loot.
Historical Examples
He wants to know what mysteries this mountain hides from his eyes.
Ancient ManHendrik Willem van Loon
"You're going to get away from the mountain desert and go straight," said Allister.
Way of the LawlessMax Brand
The lower parts of the mountain were covered with the nut-pine.
The Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, Oregon and CaliforniaBrevet Col. J.C. Fremont
At Nicolosi their rest was disturbed by the distant booming of the mountain.
The Grand Old ManRichard B. Cook
His own life was as littered with hard deeds as the side of a mountain with boulders.
Way of the LawlessMax Brand
mountain
- a natural upward projection of the earth's surface, higher and steeper than a hill and often having a rocky summit
- (as modifier)mountain people; mountain scenery
- (in combination)a mountaintop
- a huge heap or massa mountain of papers
- anything of great quantity or size
- a surplus of a commodity, esp in the European Unionthe butter mountain
- a mountain to climb British informal a serious or considerable difficulty or obstruction to overcome
- make a mountain out of a molehill See molehill (def. 2)
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Word Origin
C13: from Old French montaigne, from Vulgar Latin montānea (unattested) mountainous, from Latin montānus, from mons mountain
Mountain
- the Mountain an extremist faction during the French Revolution led by Danton and Robespierre
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Word Origin
C18: so called because its members sat in the highest row of seats at the National Convention Hall in 1793
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for mountain
n.
c.1200, from Old French montaigne (Modern French montagne), from Vulgar Latin *montanea "mountain, mountain region," noun use of fem. of *montaneus "of a mountain, mountainous," from Latin montanus "mountainous, of mountains," from mons (genitive montis) "mountain" (see mount (n.)).
Until 18c., applied to a fairly low elevation if it was prominent (e.g. Sussex Downs, the hills around Paris). As an adjective from late 14c. Mountain dew "raw and inferior whiskey" first recorded 1839; earlier a type of Scotch whiskey (1816); Jamieson's 1825 "Supplement" to his Scottish dictionary defines it specifically as "A cant term for Highland whisky that has paid no duty." Mountain-climber recorded from 1839; mountain-climbing from 1836.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
mountain
[moun′tən]
- A generally massive and usually steep-sided, raised portion of the Earth's surface. Mountains can occur as single peaks or as part of a long chain. They can form through volcanic activity, by erosion, or by uplift of the continental crust when two tectonic plates collide. The Himalayas, which are the highest mountains in the world, were formed when the plate carrying the landmass of India collided with the plate carrying the landmass of China.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Idioms and Phrases with mountain
mountain
see if the mountain won't come to Muhammad; make a mountain out of a molehill.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.