Rocky Mountains

American  

[rok-ee moun-tnz] / ˈrɒk i ˈmaʊn 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).

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Rocky Mountains British  

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

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Rocky Mountains Cultural  

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

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Etymology

Origin of Rocky Mountains

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

See Examples For:

Rocky Mountains

Grandmother Sara Folger sits in the kitchen of her single-wide trailer, the Rocky Mountains looming in the distance, and remembers the Bozeman, Montana she fell in love with decades ago.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

Wildfires pose the greatest reliability risk in the Rocky Mountains, where they can disproportionately affect rural cooperatives, according to NERC.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

One of the most remarkable efforts at evidence synthesis I’ve come across was a Level 7 decision about a vulnerable population of woodland caribou in Canada’s Rocky Mountains.

From Slate ● Apr. 28, 2026

They drive close to 1,000 miles through the Mojave Desert and over the Rocky Mountains to Denver.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026

Shell beads from Florida, obsidian from the Rocky Mountains, and mica from Tennessee found their way to the Northeast.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

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