Definitions

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

  • adjective Of, relating to, or characteristic of the Alps or their inhabitants.
  • adjective Of or relating to high mountains.
  • adjective Biology Living or growing on mountains above the timberline.
  • adjective Intended for or concerned with mountaineering.
  • adjective Of or related to downhill skiing.

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

  • adjective Of, relating to, or inhabiting mountains, especially above the timber line
  • adjective skiing ; of or relating to slalom and downhill skiing. (Compare Nordic.)
  • noun Any of several plants, native to mountain habitats, often grown in a rock garden

Etymologies

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

[Middle English, from Latin Alpīnus, from Alpēs, the Alps.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin alpinus, from Alpēs ("The Alps"). Cognates include French alpin.

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Examples

  • The Arctic zone retains few of the sub-arctic forms and its vegetation generally corresponds to what we call alpine shrubs, grasses, etc.

    Life: Its True Genesis R. W. Wright

  • I have definitely been to "dicey" in alpine river environments trying to get to that one hole you were pretty sure no one had fished (for good reason).

    Enough with the "Extreme" Fishing Already! 2009

  • Top mountaineers climb the Himalayan giants in "alpine-style", carrying everything they have on their backs in one push, unsupported by huge base camps, and without fixing ropes and ferrying multiple loads to ever-higher points.

    Wayne Hale's NASA Blog: Why Climb the Highest Mountain? - NASA Watch 2009

  • Say, the Austrians 'medal count starts weakly in alpine skiing like it did this time.

    Sochi should consider changing the (Winter) Games 2010

  • I have definitely been to "dicey" in alpine river environments trying to get to that one hole you were pretty sure no one had fished (for good reason).

    Enough with the "Extreme" Fishing Already! 2009

  • The list of performers that are, or will become household names is incredible: in alpine skiing -- 1993 World Ski Champion Kate Pace, 1992 Olympic Champion Kerrin Lee-Gartner and the two latest World Cup medalists -- Edi Podivinsky and Cary Mullen.

    Lillehammer '94—The Importance of the Olympics to Canada 1994

  • The vegetation of the higher regions of mountains is commonly called alpine, and the plants show a large number of common features, differentiating them from the flora of lower stations.

    Species and Varieties, Their Origin by Mutation Hugo de Vries 1891

  • Sophos called Apple's default password 'effectively useless' because it's the same word -- 'alpine' -- on all iPhones. blog about the Ikee worm revealed some amusing comments in the code and a trail that seems to lead to a 21-year-old from Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia, who recently tweeted that he's "kinda ... worried about legal implications".

    Crave at CNET UK 2009

  • In the four to five hours from the urban maze of San Cristóbal de Las Casas to the run-down precincts of the blight of Palenque Village one drives through extraordinary environmental changes from high mountain alpine forests to coffee and banana plantations to low lying and indescribably beautiful tropical jungles and witnesses ancient ruins at Toniná and Palenque and then can circle back through what just a few years ago was uninviting and difficult to access forest homes of the Lacandon or their ancestors and visit such magnificent places as Yaxchilan and Bonampak and see crystal clear cascades and azure pools and colorful sparkling lakes and then continue on through mountainous jungles which must be seen to be believed to the point that the scenery is overwhelming and then, in time, you are back in beautiful San Cristóbal and you have not even begun to experience this magnificnt Chiapas but it´s a damn good beginning.

    The Chicken Bus Always Stops Near Aguacatenango 2009

  • In the four to five hours from the urban maze of San Cristóbal de Las Casas to the run-down precincts of the blight of Palenque Village one drives through extraordinary environmental changes from high mountain alpine forests to coffee and banana plantations to low lying and indescribably beautiful tropical jungles and witnesses ancient ruins at Toniná and Palenque and then can circle back through what just a few years ago was uninviting and difficult to access forest homes of the Lacandon or their ancestors and visit such magnificent places as Yaxchilan and Bonampak and see crystal clear cascades and azure pools and colorful sparkling lakes and then continue on through mountainous jungles which must be seen to be believed to the point that the scenery is overwhelming and then, in time, you are back in beautiful San Cristóbal and you have not even begun to experience this magnificnt Chiapas but it´s a damn good beginning.

    The Chicken Bus Always Stops Near Aguacatenango 2009

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