mountain pass
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun: A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. It is a natural, low point or gap between mountains that allows for easier travel or crossing compared to the higher, more difficult terrain around it.
Examples
- The explorers used the ancient mountain pass to cross the formidable range.
- The road through the mountain pass is often closed in winter due to heavy snow.
- Controlling the strategic mountain pass was key to the army's defense.
Advanced Usage
- "to hold the pass": To control or defend a mountain pass, often used in a military or strategic context.
- A small force was able to hold the pass against a much larger army.
- "a high pass": A pass located at a very high altitude.
- The trek to the base camp involves crossing a high pass over 5,000 meters.
Variants and Related Words
- Pass (noun): A common shorter form for "mountain pass."
- They journeyed through the Brenner Pass into Italy.
- Col (noun): A specific term for a pass, especially a narrow, saddle-shaped gap between two peaks.
- Defile (noun): A narrow pass or gorge between mountains, often with steep sides.
- Saddle (noun): A broad, shallow pass between two peaks, resembling the shape of a saddle.
Synonyms
- Gap: An opening or break in a mountain barrier.
- Notch: A V-shaped pass or indentation in a mountain ridge.
- Cut: (Especially in North America) A passage or channel cut through a hill or mountain for a road or railway.
Related Phrases
- Pass road: A road built through a mountain pass.
- The pass road winds dramatically through the cliffs.
- Pass summit: The highest point of a mountain pass.
- There's a marker at the pass summit indicating the elevation.
Idioms
- "A pass in the mountains": This phrase is used literally to refer to a mountain pass and is not commonly an idiom itself. However, the concept is central to idioms about overcoming obstacles, such as finding "a way through" a difficult situation.
Noun
- the location in a range of mountains of a geological formation that is lower than the surrounding peaks
- we got through the pass before it started to snow