Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A broad, flat-topped elevation with one or more clifflike sides, common in the southwest United States.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Flat area of land or plateau higher than other land, with one or more clifflike edges

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Spanish, table, mesa, from Old Spanish, table, from Latin mēnsa.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

First attested 1759, from Spanish mesa ("table"), from Latin mēnsa.

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Examples

  • The distinction between plateaus and mesas is vague; in fact, in local usage the term mesa is usually applied to all of these tables which do not carry volcanic mountains.

    Canyons of the Colorado John Wesley Powell 1868

  • He represents a real dark and evil side of American politics ... the fact that someone such as him can still hold his opinions and public office at the same time is a deep shame. brian in mesa

    Leahy on Sotomayor: 'Stop the racial politics' 2009

  • Maybe it is because they learned it at home. brian in mesa

    Pawlently takes aim at Obama's address to students 2009

  • The good thing is Americans know and don't forget. brian in mesa

    Wilson calls White House to apologize 2009

  • Anyone who abuses his wife and child is my kind of real man. brian in mesa

    Senator to actor: 'Make my day' 2009

  • I came to the edge of a tall, flat piece of land called a mesa in Spanish.

    Crazy Loco Love Victor Villaseñor 2010

  • I came to the edge of a tall, flat piece of land called a mesa in Spanish.

    Crazy Loco Love Victor Villaseñor 2010

  • I came to the edge of a tall, flat piece of land called a mesa in Spanish.

    Crazy Loco Love Victor Villaseñor 2010

  • To the Navajos who have dwelled for generations at its bottom, the mesa is the wounded center of their world.

    Yellow Dirt Judy Pasternak 2010

  • This is sort of like a mesa, that is, a large formation that is formed by erosion, a steep sided hill in simple terms.

    Archive 2004-03-01 Andrew 2004

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