piste
Americannoun
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pistes
plural
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a track or trail, as a downhill ski run or a spoor made by a wild animal.
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(in fencing) a regulation-size strip, usually 2 meters wide and 14 meters long, on which fencers compete.
noun
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a trail, slope, or course for skiing
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a rectangular area for fencing bouts
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of piste
1720–30; < French: animal track < Italian pista, pesta, noun derivative of pestare to pound, crush < Vulgar Latin, frequentative of Latin pī ( n ) sere; cf. pestle
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The pilot of a multimillion-dollar Ferrari 499P Modificata also went off piste.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
Harrop's second tour around the course on the Stelvio piste saw her extend the lead over her female rivals to more than 27sec.
From Barron's ● Feb. 21, 2026
Disgusted, McGrath hurled his poles over the safety netting that lined the Stelvio piste, with nearby Swiss team members embracing each other in celebration.
From Barron's ● Feb. 16, 2026
In the same event, her compatriot Lindsey Vonn suffered a crash which saw her airlifted off the piste after a lengthy delay.
From BBC ● Feb. 8, 2026
By this time the hum of motors was heard at a great distance, but gradually it increased in volume and soon the light of the flares revealed the machine circling rapidly over the piste.
From High Adventure A Narrative of Air Fighting in France by James Norman Hall
Bonnevie explains they can control the conditions on the pistes, but not off them, and that's where skiers have been getting into perilous difficulties.
From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2026
After custom-made pistes at the last two Olympics in Beijing and Pyeongchang, Milan-Cortina organisers have used existing facilities.
From Barron's ● Feb. 5, 2026
Yes, St. Moritz hosts tremendous pistes like the Hahnensee run.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025
Four players were tied for third, two shots back, in the bright sunshine and thin air at the Crans-sur-Sierre club where the course is covered with ski pistes in the winter.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 25, 2022
He will also commence the exercise de deux pistes at a walk, as well as the rotation of the shoulders around the haunches.
From New Method of Horsemanship Including the Breaking and Training of Horses, with Instructions for Obtaining a Good Seat. by F. Baucher
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
