Mesa Meaning
/ˈmeɪ.sə/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA flat area of land or plateau higher than other land, with one or more clifflike edges.
nouna structure with components rising above the insulating substrate that surrounds it
Sentence Examples
The mesa rose high above the desert.
We hiked to the top of the mesa.
The flat top of the mesa stood out clearly.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
Over millions of years, wind and water carved a flat-topped landform called a ____ in the arid region.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The hiker stood at the edge of the ____ and looked out over the vast and beautiful desert landscape below.
Word Origin & History
First attested 1759, from Spanish mesa (“table”), from Latin mēnsa. Doublet of mensa.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Low mesas, dry, treeless, stretch back from the brink of the canyon, often showing smooth surfaces of naked, solid rock."
— 1895, J[ohn] W[esley] Powell, chapter I, in Canyons of the Colorado, Meadville, PA: Flood & Vincent; republished as The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons, New York: Dover, 1961, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 32:
"Those multitoned buttes and mesas [of the Grand Canyon], and that incandescent sequence of colorful bands that make one of the natural wonders of the world so grand, can also be found over 100 million miles away [on Mars]."
— 2013 November 27, John Grotzinger, “The world of Mars [print version: International Herald Tribune Magazine, 2013, p. 36]”, in The New York Times:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Over millions of years, wind and water carved a flat-topped landform called a ____ in the arid region.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The hiker stood at the edge of the ____ and looked out over the vast and beautiful desert landscape below.