plateau
a land area having a relatively level surface considerably raised above adjoining land on at least one side, and often cut by deep canyons.
a period or state of little or no growth or decline: to reach a plateau in one's career.
Psychology. a period of little or no apparent progress in an individual's learning, marked by an inability to increase speed, reduce number of errors, etc., and indicated by a horizontal stretch in a learning curve or graph.
a flat stand, as for a centerpiece, sometimes extending the full length of a table.
to reach a state or level of little or no growth or decline, especially to stop increasing or progressing; remain at a stable level of achievement; level off: After a period of uninterrupted growth, sales began to plateau.
to cause to remain at a stable level, especially to prevent from rising or progressing: Rising inflation plateaued sales income.
Origin of plateau
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use plateau in a sentence
Younger subjects tended to be stronger initially, as did males, but the rate of progress and the plateau after a year were consistent across groups.
The Data Behind a Once-a-Week Strength Routine | Alex Hutchinson | February 2, 2021 | Outside OnlineOfficials urged people to follow public health guidelines to minimize the risk of contracting the variant as new daily cases in the hard-hit state plateau at more than 38,000, while deaths average more than 515 daily.
Another coronavirus variant linked to growing share of cases, several large outbreaks, in California | Fenit Nirappil | January 18, 2021 | Washington Post“In general, the immune response tends to follow a pattern where there is an initial phase where it ramps up, then it peaks and then contracts a little bit, and then goes on a plateau—a steady state level,” Sette says.
In both cases, the bulls bought the notion that valuations had permanently reached a new, much higher plateau than in the past.
Investing legends Carl Icahn and Jeremy Grantham see a stock market bubble | Shawn Tully | January 8, 2021 | FortuneThe immune response to a virus builds gradually, peaks, then begins to contract — but can reach a plateau, and stay there for a long period.
Post-infection coronavirus immunity usually robust after 8 months, study shows | Joel Achenbach | January 7, 2021 | Washington Post
Exports, which soared in 2010 and 2011, are showing signs of plateauing as the global economy slows.
No Matter How Crazy Washington Is, Americans Can’t Stop Shopping | Daniel Gross | March 13, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST“Plateauing” is what Wharton Business School calls this lack of appetite for the climb.
British Dictionary definitions for plateau (1 of 2)
/ (ˈplætəʊ) /
a wide mainly level area of elevated land
a relatively long period of stability; levelling off: the rising prices reached a plateau
to remain at a stable level for a relatively long period
Origin of plateau
1British Dictionary definitions for Plateau (2 of 2)
/ (ˈplætəʊ) /
a state of central Nigeria, formed in 1976 from part of Benue-Plateau State: tin mining. Capital: Jos. Pop: 3 178 712 (2006). Area: 30 913 sq km (11 936 sq miles)
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
Scientific definitions for plateau
[ plă-tō′ ]
An elevated, comparatively level expanse of land. Plateaus make up about 45 percent of the Earth's land surface.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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