Rocky Mountains

[rok-ee moun-tnz]

plural noun

1. the chief mountain system in North America, extending from central New Mexico to northern Alaska. Highest peak, Denali, 20,300 feet (6,187 meters).

Rocky Mountains

plural noun

1. the chief mountain system of W North America, extending from British Columbia to New Mexico: forms the Continental Divide. Highest peak: Mount Elbert, 4399 m (14 431 ft). Mount McKinley (6194 m (20 320 ft)), in the Alaska Range, is not strictly part of the Rocky Mountains

Rocky Mountains

1. Major mountain chain of western North America, running from Alaska to Mexico.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Rocky Mountains¹

First recorded in 1800–05; translation of Canadian French les Montagnes des Roches, from Cree asini˙waciya, plural of asini˙waciy, equivalent to asini˙-, combining form of asiniy “stone, rock” + waciy “mountain,” originally referring to the Canadian Rockies

Example Sentences

The country's most visited parks include the Everglades in Florida, Yosemite in California and Colorado's Rocky Mountains.

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If he fixes the Rockies, he will have achieved something loftier than the Rocky Mountains themselves—and become the envy of his peers forever.

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The Colorado River provides water to about 35 million people in cities from Denver to San Diego, 30 Native tribes and farming communities from the Rocky Mountains to northern Mexico.

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The low-rise but sprawling building sits in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.

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The team sampled soils from six Kansas locations, spanning the wetter eastern region to the higher, drier High Plains in the west, which receive less rain because of the Rocky Mountains' rain shadow.

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