plateau

pla·teau (pla tō′)

noun pl. -·teaus′ or -·teaux′-tōz′

an elevated tract of more or less level land; tableland; mesa
a period, level, etc. of relative stability, or relatively little change, as can be shown by a flat extent on a graph, etc.; specif., a period in which an individual's learning rate does not improve

Etymology: Fr < OFr platel, dim. < plat: see plate

intransitive verb

to become relatively stable or constant, as in position

Preposition: that

dip: This upland area is dominated by a series of structural plateaux that dip gently in toward the Lough Neagh Basin.

Converse of object

undulate: Shallow ridges extend from the basalt escarpment to the south to create an undulating plateau.
dissect: The historic landscape area of the Rhondda is located within the dissected plateau of the upland region of Glamorgan, the Blaenau Morgannwg.
reach: Day 6 THURSDAY hiking Grand Canyon We reach the high plateau of the Grand Canyon via Route 66.
expose: Should the weather on that exposed plateau be cold or wet, then its welcome can become an essential refuge!
cross: We've just passed the point where the path splits, the southern fork going off to cross the high plateau to Beinn Macdui.
hit: Big Brother, South-East Tip Depth: 40m A wall of soft corals drops to 40m, where you hit a short plateau.

Adjective modifier

Tibetan: In June of 2005, I went there to see the birds of the Tibetan plateau... George Wagner reports.
tibial: The lateral tibial plateau is marked with an asterisk.
Anatolian: The one time home of up to 20,000 people, it's 18 stories descend into the Anatolian plateau 50 kms south of Goreme.
upland: Water flows in deep gullies to the upland plateau.
grassy: Behind the church, a track climbs steeply through Holloway Rocks before leveling out on the high grassy plateau of Stow Hill.
barren: The journey took us over barren high plateaux leading away from the Great Rift Valley toward the eastern Desert.

Modifies a noun

margin: The plateaux margins are typically characterized slope failures that range from large rotational landslides to individual blockfalls.

Noun used with modifier

cairngorm: A hundred yards short of the summit and the central Cairngorm plateau came into view.
basalt: The surface of the basalt plateau is rolling, with a series of broad ridges aligned northwest to southeast.
limestone: Bath is situated in the valley of the River Avon which cuts its way through a limestone plateau.
summit: The summit plateau appears to be more water than hill.
lat: Grey-crowned Crocias This Vietnamese endemic is classified as Endangered and restricted to the Da Lat plateau.
highland: While you ascend to a highland plateau you will notice the changes in nature as you reach higher ground.

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