puna
Americannoun
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a high cold dry plateau, esp in the Andes
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another name for mountain sickness
Etymology
Origin of puna
First recorded in 1605–15; from South American Spanish, from Quechua púna
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.
Step 1: Deep wells or puna are cleaned of dirt and debris so the sea water that enters them through underground channels is clean and conducive to salt making.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 3, 2024
On the puna, the more-than-two-mile-high sierra, the saffron moss took a little spring rain and greened.
From Time Magazine Archive
Half a dozen of her comrades were lounging upon the sand when we reached the via puna.
From White Shadows in the South Seas by O'Brien, Frederick
At a great altitude in the Andes the people had shortness of breath which they called "puna," and they ate onions to correct it.
From Under the Maples by Burroughs, John
Paramo, in Peruvian puna, is a denomination found on all the maps of Spanish America.
From Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 — Volume 1 by Ross, Thomasina
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.
