Adjacent Words

plateau definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a relatively flat highland [syn: tableland, plateau]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun (plural plateaus or plateaux) Etymology: French, from Middle French, platter, from plat flat Date: 1796 1. a. a usually extensive land area having a relatively level surface raised sharply above adjacent land on at least one side ; tableland b. a similar undersea feature 2. a. a region of little or no change in a graphic representation b. a relatively stable level, period, or condition 3. a level of attainment or achievement <the 500-point plateau> II. intransitive verb Date: 1939 to reach a level, period, or condition of stability or maximum attainment

Britannica Concise

Extensive area of flat upland, usually bounded by an escarpment on all sides but sometimes enclosed by mountains. Plateaus are extensive, and together with enclosed basins they cover about 45% of the earth's land surface. The essential criteria for a plateau are low relative relief and some altitude. Low relief distinguishes plateaus from mountains, although their origin may be similar. Plateaus, being high, often create their own local climate; the topography of plateaus and their surroundings often produce arid and semiarid conditions.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. (pl. plateaux or plateaus) 1 an area of fairly level high ground. 2 a state of little variation after an increase. --v.intr. (plateaus, plateaued) (often foll. by out) reach a level or stable state after an increase. Etymology: F f. OF platel dimin. of plat flat surface

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Plateau Pla*teau", n.; pl. F. Plateaux (F. ?; E. ?), E. Plateaus. [F., fr. OF. platel, properly a little plate. See Plate.] 1. A flat surface; especially, a broad, level, elevated area of land; a table-land. 2. An ornamental dish for the table; a tray or salver.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(plateaus, or plateaux, plateaus, plateauing, plateaued) 1. A plateau is a large area of high and fairly flat land. A broad valley opened up leading to a high, flat plateau of cultivated land. N-COUNT 2. If you say that an activity or process has reached a plateau, you mean that it has reached a stage where there is no further change or development. The US heroin market now appears to have reached a plateau... N-COUNT 3. If something such as an activity, process, or cost plateaus or plateaus out, it reaches a stage where there is no further change or development. Evelyn's career is accelerating, and mine is plateauing out a bit... The shares plateaued at 153p. VERB: V out, V at n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Plain (elevate), table-land.

Moby Thesaurus

alkali flat, alluvial plain, amount, basin, bench, bottomland, break, bushveld, caliber, campo, champaign, champaign country, coastal plain, coffee break, compass, cut, degree, delta, desert, down, downs, downtime, extent, fell, flat, flat country, flatland, flats, grade, grass veld, grassland, half time, half-time intermission, heath, height, highland, holiday, interim, interlude, intermezzo, intermission, intermittence, interregnum, interruption, interval, lande, leap, letup, level, llano, lowland, lowlands, lull, lunar mare, mare, mark, measure, mesa, mesilla, moor, moorland, notch, nuance, off-time, open country, pampa, pampas, pas, pause, peg, peneplain, period, pitch, plain, plains, plane, playa, point, point of repose, prairie, proportion, quiet spell, range, ratio, reach, recess, relief, remove, respite, resting point, round, rung, salt flat, salt marsh, salt pan, savanna, scale, scope, sebkha, shade, shadow, space, stair, standard, step, steppe, stint, table, table mountain, tableland, time off, time out, tread, tree veld, tundra, upland, vacation, vega, veld, weald, wide-open spaces, wold