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valley - 6 dictionary results

val⋅ley

  [val-ee]
Use valley in a Sentence
–noun, plural -leys.
1. an elongated depression between uplands, hills, or mountains, esp. one following the course of a stream.
2. an extensive, more or less flat, and relatively low region drained by a great river system.
3. any depression or hollow resembling a valley.
4. a low point or interval in any process, representation, or situation.
5. any place, period, or situation that is filled with fear, gloom, foreboding, or the like: the valley of despair.
6. Architecture. a depression or angle formed by the meeting of two inclined sides of a roof.
7. the lower phase of a horizontal wave motion.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME valeie, valey < OF valee, equiv. to val vale1 + -ee < L -āta, fem. of -ātus -ate 1

Related forms:
val⋅ley⋅like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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val·ley   (vāl'ē)   
n.   pl. val·leys
  1. An elongated lowland between ranges of mountains, hills, or other uplands, often having a river or stream running along the bottom.
  2. An extensive area of land drained or irrigated by a river system.
  3. A depression or hollow resembling or suggesting a valley, as the point at which the two slopes of a roof meet.

[Middle English valey, from Old French valee, from Vulgar Latin *vallāta, from Latin vallēs; see wel-2 in Indo-European roots.]
val'leyed adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Valley

Val"ley\, n.; pl. Valleys. [OE. vale, valeie, OF. val['e]e, valede, F. vall['e]e, LL. vallata, L. vallis, valles. See Vale.]

1. The space inclosed between ranges of hills or mountains; the strip of land at the bottom of the depressions intersecting a country, including usually the bed of a stream, with frequently broad alluvial plains on one or both sides of the stream. Also used figuratively.

The valley of the shadow of death. --Ps. xxiii. 4.

Sweet interchange Of hill and valley, rivers, woods, and plains. --Milton.

Note: Deep and narrow valleys with abrupt sides are usually the results of erosion by water, and are called gorges, ravines, ca[~n]ons, gulches, etc.

2. (Arch.) (a) The place of meeting of two slopes of a roof, which have their plates running in different directions, and form on the plan a re["e]ntrant angle. (b) The depression formed by the meeting of two slopes on a flat roof.

Valley board (Arch.), a board for the reception of the lead gutter in the valley of a roof. The valley board and lead gutter are not usual in the United States.

Valley rafter, or Valley piece (Arch.), the rafter which supports the valley.

Valley roof (Arch.), a roof having one or more valleys. See Valley, 2, above.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : valley
Spanish: valle,
German: das Tal,
Japanese: 谷
More Translations »

valley 
c.1290, from Anglo-Norman valey, O.Fr. valee "a valley," from V.L. *vallata, from L. vallis "valley," of unknown origin. Valley Girl (in ref. to San Fernando Valley of California) was poularized 1982 in song by Frank Zappa and his daughter.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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valley   (vāl'ē)  Pronunciation Key 
A long, narrow region of low land between ranges of mountains, hills, or other high areas, often having a river or stream running along the bottom. Valleys are most commonly formed through the erosion of land by rivers or glaciers. They also form where large regions of land are lowered because of geological faults.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Valley

(1.) Heb. bik'ah, a "cleft" of the mountains (Deut. 8:7; 11:11; Ps. 104:8; Isa. 41:18); also a low plain bounded by mountains, as the plain of Lebanon at the foot of Hermon around the sources of the Jordan (Josh. 11:17; 12:7), and the valley of Megiddo (2 Chr. 35:22). (2.) 'Emek, "deep;" "a long, low plain" (Job 39:10, 21; Ps. 65:13; Cant. 2:1), such as the plain of Esdraelon; the "valley of giants" (Josh. 15:8), usually translated "valley of Rephaim" (2 Sam. 5:18); of Elah (1 Sam. 17:2), of Berachah (2 Chr. 20:26); the king's "dale" (Gen. 14:17); of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:2, 12), of Achor (Josh. 7:24; Isa. 65:10), Succoth (Ps. 60:6), Ajalon (Josh. 10:12), Jezreel (Hos. 1:5). (3.) Ge, "a bursting," a "flowing together," a narrow glen or ravine, such as the valley of the children of Hinnom (2 Kings 23:10); of Eshcol (Deut. 1:24); of Sorek (Judg. 16:4), etc. The "valley of vision" (Isa. 22:1) is usually regarded as denoting Jerusalem, which "may be so called," says Barnes (Com. on Isa.), "either (1) because there were several valleys within the city and adjacent to it, as the vale between Mount Zion and Moriah, the vale between Mount Moriah and Mount Ophel, between these and Mount Bezetha, and the valley of Jehoshaphat, the valley of the brook Kidron, etc., without the walls of the city; or (2) more probably it was called the valley in reference to its being compassed with hills rising to a considerable elevation above the city" (Ps. 125:2; comp. also Jer. 21:13, where Jerusalem is called a "valley"). (4.) Heb. nahal, a wady or water-course (Gen. 26:19; Cant. 6:11).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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