mountain pass

/ˌmaʊnt(ə)n pæs/

Other forms: mountain passes

Definitions of mountain pass

1. noun

   the location in a range of mountains of a geological formation that is lower than the surrounding peaks
   synonyms: notch, pass

   examples:

   Brenner Pass

   an Alpine mountain pass connecting Innsbruck in Austria with Bolzano in Italy that has long been a route for trade and for invasions

   Cumberland Gap

   a pass through the Cumberland Mountains between Virginia and Kentucky that early settlers used in order to move west

   Donner Pass

   a mountain pass in northeastern California near Lake Tahoe; site where in 1844 some members of an emigrant party survived by eating those who had died

   Khyber Pass

   a mountain pass of great strategic and commercial value in the Hindu Kush on the border between northern Pakistan and western Afghanistan; a route by which invaders entered India

   types:

   col, gap

   a pass between mountain peaks

   defile, gorge

   a narrow pass (especially one between mountains)

   saddle, saddleback

   a pass or ridge that slopes gently between two peaks (is shaped like a saddle)

   water gap

   a pass in a mountain ridge through which a stream flows

   wind gap

   a pass in a mountain ridge with no stream flowing through it

   type of:

   location

   a point or extent in space