Meaning & use
mountain
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Meanings
nouncountable
A very high natural hill with steep sides, rising far above the land around it.
Grammar: Countable; can be part of a name: Mount Everest or the Rocky Mountains.
Patterns
- climb a mountain
- the top of a mountain
- in the mountains
They climbed the mountain before sunrise.
Snow covered the top of the mountain.
We spent our holiday hiking in the mountains.
nouncountablefigurativeinformal
A very large pile or amount of something.
Grammar: Usually followed by of: a mountain of homework.
Patterns
- a mountain of something
I have a mountain of laundry to wash.
She faced a mountain of debt.
There was a mountain of paperwork on his desk.
adjectivebefore a noun
Relating to or found in mountains.
Grammar: Used as a noun adjunct: mountain air, mountain path.
Patterns
- mountain air
- mountain path
The mountain air felt cool and clean.
We followed a narrow mountain path.
A mountain stream ran beside the cabin.
Word forms
| plural | mountains |
|---|
Common combinations
- climb a mountain
- He dreams of climbing a mountain in Nepal.
- mountain range
- The mountain range stretches for hundreds of miles.
- mountain of work
- There is a mountain of work waiting for me.
- make a mountain out of a molehill
- Don't make a mountain out of a molehill; it's a small mistake.
- mountain bike
- She rides her mountain bike on forest trails.
Synonyms and how they differ
- peak
- A peak is the pointed top of a mountain rather than the whole mountain.
- hill
- A hill is lower and gentler than a mountain.
- heap
- Heap means a messy pile and is the closer synonym for the figurative sense.
Opposites
Word family
- mountainous adjective
- having many mountains
- mountaineer noun
- a person who climbs mountains
- mountaineering noun
- the sport of climbing mountains
- mountainside noun
- the sloping side of a mountain
Commonly confused: mountain or mount?
mountain vs mount
Mount is used before a name (Mount Fuji) or as a verb meaning to climb or get on, while mountain is the general noun.
Practice
After the holiday, I came back to a ___ of emails.
Choose one answer.
A mountain of something means a huge amount. A pinch is a tiny amount, which contradicts the idea.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “mountain”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.