Definitions

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

  • noun A high mountain.
  • noun A very large mound or mass.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A high mountain; specifically, any one of the higher Swiss mountains, and, as a proper name in the plural, the great mountain-ranges in Switzerland and neighboring countries, comprising the loftiest mountains in Europe.
  • noun In Switzerland, a pasture on the side of a mountain.
  • noun An old local name for the bullfinch, Pyrrhula vulgaris.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A very high mountain. Specifically, in the plural, the highest chain of mountains in Europe, containing the lofty mountains of Switzerland, etc.
  • noun Fig.: Something lofty, or massive, or very hard to be surmounted.
  • noun A bullfinch.

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

  • noun A very high mountain. Specifically, one of the Alps, the highest chain of mountains in Europe.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any high mountain

Etymologies

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

[Back-formation from the Alps.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Alps, from French Alpes, from Latin Alpes, from probably non-PIE root *alb-

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Examples

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  • Also, a bullfinch.

    May 12, 2008