Palo Alto

[pal-oh al-toh, pah-loh ahl-toh]

noun

1. a city in W California, SE of San Francisco.

2. a battlefield in S Texas, near Brownsville: first battle of Mexican War fought here in 1846.

Palo Alto

noun

1. a city in W California, southeast of San Francisco: founded in 1891 as the seat of Stanford University. Pop: 57 233 (2003 est)

2. a battlefield in E Mexico, northwest of Monterrey, where the first battle (1846) of the Mexican War took place, in which the Mexicans under General Mariano Arista were defeated by the Americans under General Zachary Taylor