PLATEAU (plateaux)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: plateaux   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does plateau mean? 

• PLATEAU (noun)
  The noun PLATEAU has 1 sense:

1. a relatively flat highland

  Familiarity information: PLATEAU used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PLATEAU (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A relatively flat highland

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

plateau; tableland

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

highland; upland (elevated (e.g., mountainous) land)

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

mesa; table (flat tableland with steep edges)

bench; terrace (a level shelf of land interrupting a declivity (with steep slopes above and below))

Instance hyponyms:

Canadian Shield; Laurentian Highlands; Laurentian Plateau (a large plateau that occupies more than 40% of the land area of Canada; it extends from the Great Lakes northward to the Arctic Ocean)

Ardennes (a wooded plateau in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France; the site of intense fighting in World War I and World War II)

Najd; Nejd (a central plateau region of the Arabian Peninsula; formerly an independent sultanate until 1932 when it united with Hejaz to form the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)

Guiana Highlands (a mountainous tableland in northern South America; extends from Venezuela into Guyana and northern Brazil)

Cambrian Mountains (a rugged plateau that runs north to south through central Wales)

Colorado Plateau (a large plateau to the south and west of the Rocky Mountains; abuts mountains on the north and east and ends in an escarpment overlooking lowlands to the south and west; the Grand Canyon is carved out of the southwestern corner)

Llano Estacado (a large semiarid plateau forming the southern part of the Great Plains)

Massif Central (a mountainous plateau in southern France that covers almost one sixth of the country)

 Context examples 

On the morning after our being trapped upon the plateau by the villainous Gomez we began a new stage in our experiences.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Thence, bending to our left, we began to ascend the slope towards the plateau.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The road from Crawley curves gently upwards to the upland heather-clad plateau which extends for many miles in every direction.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

On the summit was a small uneven plateau, with a stretch across of a hundred paces, and a depth of half as much again.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And the new measurements show the lakes perched atop big hills and plateaus.

(Cassini Reveals Surprises with Titan's Lakes, NASA)

That’s plenty of time to see the rewards you are due and to set yourself on a new plateau that you will now build from.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The southern portion of the left inset above shows the cratered plateau uplands informally named Vega Terra.

(What’s Eating at Pluto?, NASA)

A high elevation plateau in southeastern Peru and western Bolivia, elevation about 3500 m.

(Altiplano, NOAA Paleoclimate Glossary)

As they came up onto the stone plateau that crowns the hill, Amy waved her hand as if welcoming him to her favorite haunt, and said, pointing here and there, Do you remember the Cathedral and the Corso, the fishermen dragging their nets in the bay, and the lovely road to Villa Franca, Schubert's Tower, just below, and best of all, that speck far out to sea which they say is Corsica?

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

If there were a high tree near the edge of the plateau we might drop a return bridge across, but there is none within fifty yards.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)