plateau
Use Plateau in a sentence
pla·teau
[pla-toh or, esp. British, plat-oh] noun, plural pla·teaus, pla·teaux 
oʊ [-tohz, -tohz] , verb, pla·teaued, pla·teau·ing. noun
1.
a land area having a relatively level surface considerably raised above adjoining land on at least one side, and often cut by deep canyons.
2.
a period or state of little or no growth or decline: to reach a plateau in one's career.
3.
Psychology. a period of little or no apparent progress in an individual's learning, marked by an inability to increase speed, reduce number of errors, etc., and indicated by a horizontal stretch in a learning curve or graph.
4.
a flat stand, as for a centerpiece, sometimes extending the full length of a table.
verb (used without object)
5.
to reach a state or level of little or no growth or decline, especially to stop increasing or progressing; remain at a stable level of achievement; level off: After a period of uninterrupted growth, sales began to plateau.
00:10
Plateau
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is absquatulate. Does it mean:
| to flee; abscond: |
| to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable. |
verb (used with object)
6.
to cause to remain at a stable level, especially to prevent from rising or progressing: Rising inflation plateaued sales income.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To plateau
Collins
World English Dictionary
plateau (ˈplætəʊ) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n , pl -eaus, -eaux | |
| 1. | a wide mainly level area of elevated land |
| 2. | a relatively long period of stability; levelling off: the rising prices reached a plateau |
| —vb | |
| 3. | to remain at a stable level for a relatively long period |
| [C18: from French, from Old French platel something flat, from plat flat; see | |
| Plateau (ˈplætəʊ) | |
| —n | |
| a state of central Nigeria, formed in 1976 from part of Benue-Plateau State: tin mining. Capital: Jos. Pop: 3 178 712 (2006). Area: 30 913 sq km (11 936 sq miles) | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
plateau
1796, "elevated tract of relatively level land," from Fr. plateau, from O.Fr. platel (12c.) "flat piece of metal, wood, etc.," dim. of plat "flat surface or thing," noun use of adj. plat (see plat). Meaning "stage at which no progress is apparent" is attested from 1897, originally
in psychology of learning. The verb is attested from 1952, from the noun.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
| plateau (plā-tō') Pronunciation Key
An elevated, comparatively level expanse of land. Plateaus make up about 45 percent of the Earth's land surface. |
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
North on a high plateau the warmer climate does us good.
Neighborhood boosters had long complained that the high plateau was inaccessible from surrounding areas.
But in the rugged western corner of the plateau, the story is different, according to a new study.
They are still in the nests they built the previous night, in trees at the edge of an open plateau.
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