MOUNTAIN

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A land mass that projects well above its surroundings; higher than a hill

Synonyms:

mount; mountain

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("mountain" is a kind of...):

elevation; natural elevation (a raised or elevated geological formation)

Meronyms (parts of "mountain"):

mountain peak (the summit of a mountain)

mountainside; versant (the side or slope of a mountain)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mountain"):

alp (any high mountain)

ben (a mountain or tall hill)

seamount (an underwater mountain rising above the ocean floor)

volcano (a mountain formed by volcanic material)

Instance hyponyms:

Black Hills (mountains in western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming)

Derivation:

mountaineer (someone who climbs mountains)

mountainous (containing many mountains)

mountainous (having hills and crags)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(often followed by 'of') a large number or amount or extent

Example:

a wad of money

Synonyms:

batch; deal; flock; good deal; great deal; hatful; heap; lot; mass; mess; mickle; mint; mountain; muckle; passel; peck; pile; plenty; pot; quite a little; raft; sight; slew; spate; stack; tidy sum; wad

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("mountain" is a kind of...):

large indefinite amount; large indefinite quantity (an indefinite quantity that is above the average in size or magnitude)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mountain"):

deluge; flood; inundation; torrent (an overwhelming number or amount)

haymow (a mass of hay piled up in a barn for preservation)

Credits

Context examples:

Thousands of previously uncharted mountains rising from the seafloor, called seamounts, have emerged through the map, along with new clues about the formation of the continents.

(New map uncovers thousands of unseen seamounts on ocean floor, NSF)

These clouds are similar to clouds that appear as pancake-shaped features when air is pushed over mountains on Earth (though Neptune has no solid surface).

(Hubble Reveals Dynamic Atmospheres of Uranus, Neptune, NASA)

It had been no easy matter when he first drifted in mysteriously out of nowhere to their little mountain cottage.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

I could tell you the moon is made of green cheese and you would subscribe to the notion, at least you would not repudiate it, because I've got dollars, mountains of them.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

During that time she ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than from the schoolmaster.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Curiosity has analyzed rock samples drilled from three targets lower on the mountain in the past seven months.

(Curiosity Eyes Prominent Mineral Veins on Mars, NASA)

Or go skiing in rugged mountains and enter a gorgeous winter wonderland. (Snow is frozen water, of course, so snow, too, is ruled by Pisces.)

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

I mean, if the inhabitants ought to be believed, unless a dispute may arise concerning the two Yahoos, said to have been seen many years ago upon a mountain in Houyhnhnmland.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The lonely mountain is likely volcanic in nature.

(Ceres' Geological Activity, Ice Revealed in New Research, NASA)

In addition to the bright spots, the latest images also show a mountain with steep slopes protruding from a relatively smooth area of the dwarf planet's surface.