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VALLEY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A long depression in the surface of the land that usually contains a river
Synonyms:
vale; valley
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)
Hypernyms ("valley" is a kind of...):
depression; natural depression (a sunken or depressed geological formation)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "valley"):
dale (an open river valley (in a hilly area))
glen (a narrow secluded valley (in the mountains))
gully (deep ditch cut by running water (especially after a prolonged downpour))
holler; hollow (a small valley between mountains)
nullah (a ravine or gully in southern Asia)
ravine (a deep narrow steep-sided valley (especially one formed by running water))
rift valley (a valley with steep sides; formed by a rift in the earth's crust)
Instance hyponyms:
Nemea (a valley in southeastern Greece where the Nemean Games were held)
Loire Valley (the valley of the Loire River where many French wines originated)
San Fernando Valley (a fertile valley in southern California to the north of Los Angeles; includes many residential communities)
San Joaquin Valley (a vast valley in central California known for its rich farmland)
Shenandoah Valley (a large valley between the Allegheny Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains in northern Virginia; site of numerous battles during the American Civil War)
Context examples:
"We discovered valleys that carried water into lake basins," said Sharon Wilson of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, and the University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
(Some Ancient Mars Lakes Came Long After Others, NASA)
In the soft light the distant hills became melted, and the shadows in the valleys and gorges of velvety blackness.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
He did not see this stream nor this valley.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
The range is situated among craters, with narrow valleys separating its peaks.
(Methane Snow on Pluto’s Peaks, NASA)
As climate warmed, glaciers receded, leaving Yosemite-like valleys and similar geologic features behind.
("Out of Tibet" hypothesis: Cradle of evolution for cold-adapted mammals is in Tibet, NSF)
This type of flattening of mountains and valleys requires a high-strength crust resting on a more deformable layer, which contain a little bit of liquid.
(Dawn Finds Possible Ancient Ocean Remnants at Ceres, NASA)
Most of this flying occurs at the peak of the Antarctic summer when the lake surfaces in the valleys experience a seasonal melt.
(Antarctic lakes are a repository for ancient soot, NSF)
This we reached about midday, only to find a shallow valley beyond, rising once again into a gentle incline which led to a low, rounded sky-line.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
An instant later we had reached the same spot, and there was the road beneath us, steep and narrow, winding in long curves into the valley.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
We hove to and ran away, hove to and ran away, and ever astern the struggling patch of sail tossed skyward and fell into the rushing valleys.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
