: an isolated relatively flat-topped natural elevation usually more extensive than a butte and less extensive than a plateau
also
: a broad terrace with an abrupt slope on one side : bench
Examples of mesa in a Sentence
a mesa in the Arizona desert
Recent Examples on the Web
At the same time, however, the water exposure the mesas and buttes have experienced needn't have come through their being submerged by said ocean and, given their elevation, might best be explained through some other process.
—
John Timmer, Ars Technica, 20 Jan. 2025
The town hovers high above the Española valley, on a handsome mesa called the Pajarito Plateau.
—Abe Streep, The New Yorker, 27 Dec. 2024
Jeremiah Hight, 23, was arrested on the afternoon of Dec. 24 atop a mesa west of Oljato, Utah, by the Navajo Police Department’s K-9 Unit and the Bureau of Indian Affairs drug enforcement division, according to a statement from the Navajo Police Department.
—Nicole Acosta, People.com, 27 Dec. 2024
Jeremiah Hight, 23, was arrested Tuesday afternoon on a mesa near Oljato, Utah, within the Navajo Nation reservation, according to Navajo police on Thursday.
—Tom Rogers, Newsweek, 26 Dec. 2024
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John Timmer, Ars Technica, 20 Jan. 2025
The town hovers high above the Española valley, on a handsome mesa called the Pajarito Plateau.
—Abe Streep, The New Yorker, 27 Dec. 2024
Jeremiah Hight, 23, was arrested on the afternoon of Dec. 24 atop a mesa west of Oljato, Utah, by the Navajo Police Department’s K-9 Unit and the Bureau of Indian Affairs drug enforcement division, according to a statement from the Navajo Police Department.
—Nicole Acosta, People.com, 27 Dec. 2024
Jeremiah Hight, 23, was arrested Tuesday afternoon on a mesa near Oljato, Utah, within the Navajo Nation reservation, according to Navajo police on Thursday.
—Tom Rogers, Newsweek, 26 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for mesa
Dictionary Entries Near mesa
Cite this Entry
“Mesa.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mesa. Accessed 5 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
mesa
noun
me·sa
ˈmā-sə 
: a flat-topped hill or small plateau with steep sides
Etymology
Spanish, literally, "table"
Geographical Definition
Mesa
geographical name
Me·sa
ˈmā-sə
city east of Phoenix in southwest central Arizona population 439,041
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