mesa

mesa — noun

1. a raised landform with a broad, level summit and sheer cliffs that drop away on

1.名詞B2
釋義

a raised landform with a broad, level summit and sheer cliffs that drop away on all sides. Mesas form when wind and water wear away the softer rock around a harder top layer, and they are a familiar sight in dry parts of the American Southwest.

例句

The Navajo Nation in Arizona has some of the largest mesas in the region.

collocation: largest mesas + geographic region

From the top of the mesa, Owen watched the river wind through the valley below.

viewpoint: from atop a mesa

同義詞
  • butte

    smaller than a mesa, with a flat top that is narrower than the formation's height

  • plateau

    much larger than a mesa, often covering hundreds or thousands of square kilometers

  • tableland

    broader, less specific term for any high flat area; less common in everyday use

反義詞
  • canyon

    a deep valley carved into the land, the opposite of a raised flat-topped landform

用法筆記

Frequently appears in descriptions of the American Southwest landscape. A mesa is smaller than a plateau but larger than a butte — the difference is mainly in the width of the flat top relative to its height.

常見錯誤

❌We drove past a small mesa that was only as wide as a car.
✅We drove past a small butte that was only as wide as a car.
💡A very narrow flat-topped rock formation is called a butte, not a mesa.
❌The Colorado Plateau is a huge mesa covering several states.
✅The Colorado Plateau is a huge plateau covering several states.
💡A plateau covers a much larger area than a mesa.