sierra

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si·er·ra

(sē-ĕr′ə)

1. A rugged range of mountains having an irregular or jagged profile.

2. Any of several mackerels of the genus Scomberomorus, especially S. sierra of warm Pacific coastal waters of the Americas.

[Spanish, saw, sierra, from Latin serra, saw.]

si·er′ran adj.

Word History: In English, the word sierra is probably best known for the names of certain mountain ranges, such as the Sierra Nevada (in Spanish, the "snowy sierra") of Spain, the similarly named Sierra Nevada of Eastern California, and the Sierra Madre (the "mother sierra") of Mexico. The English word sierra, "rugged range of mountains having an irregular or jagged profile," is a borrowing of Spanish sierra. In Spanish, sierra literally means "saw," but the word is also used in the extended meaning "line or group of mountains with a jagged profile." As a further example of how a word meaning "saw" can become a word meaning "mountain range," we need only mention the Sawtooth Mountains of central Idaho.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sierra

(sɪˈɛərə)

(Physical Geography) a range of mountains with jagged peaks, esp in Spain or America

[C17: from Spanish, literally: saw, from Latin serra; see serrate]

siˈerran adj

Sierra

(sɪˈɛərə)

(Telecommunications) communications a code word for the letter s

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

si•er•ra

(siˈɛr ə)

n., pl. -ras.

a chain of hills or mountains, the peaks of which suggest the teeth of a saw.

[1590–1600; < Sp: literally, saw]

si·er·ra

(sē-ĕr′ə)

A high, rugged range of mountains having an irregular outline somewhat like the teeth of a saw.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	sierra - a range of mountains (usually with jagged peaks and irregular outline)
	2.	sierra - a Spanish mackerel of western North America Scomberomorus sierra Spanish mackerel - any of several large marine food fishes of the genus Scomberomorus

Translations

Salme

Sakari

sierra

n → Sierra f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

References in classic literature ?

There were two new hotels-- one a "Temperance House," whose ascetic quality was confined only to the abnegation of whiskey--a rival stage office, and a small one-storied building, from which the "Sierran Banner" fluttered weekly, for "ten dollars a year, in advance." Insufferable in the glare of a Sabbath sun, bleak, windy, and flaring in the gloom of a Sabbath night, and hopelessly depressing on all days of the week, the First Presbyterian Church lifted its blunt steeple from the barrenest area of the flats, and was hideous!

View in context

He said that Nigeria helped to stabilise Liberia, Sierran Leone, Ivory Coast and recently prevented the Gambia from degenerating into anarchy.

Buhari Exposes Nigerians Behind Insecurity

The role of recruitment in the dynamics of a Sierran subalpine bird community.

TRENDS IN LANDBIRD DENSITY AT TWO NATIONAL PARKS IN FRAGMENTED, MIXED-USE LANDSCAPES OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

Born to a Sierran Leonean mother and Nigerian father, she was raised by her mother's cousins in Ely, Cardiff, and attended Windsor Clive Primary, South Glamorgan Youth Theatre and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

The brilliant black people who have helped to shape Wales

Born to a Sierran Leonean mother and Nigerian father she was raised by her mother's cousins in Ely, Cardiff, and attended Windsor Clive Primary, South Glamorgan Youth Theatre and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Brilliant, Black and Welsh: A celebration of 100 Afro Caribbean and African Welsh people; To mark Black History Month Wales we look at the contribution of 100 outstanding black Welsh people

The Nevada Sierran Sector covers 1290 [km.sup.2], the 75% of the total area of the park and occupies the central territory, with the highest peaks and metamorphic geological substrata (lastra).

Bioindicators and bioclimatic data as essential tools towards a consistent biogeographic district typology of Sierra Nevada National Park (Spain)/Bioindicadores y datos bioclimaticos como herramientas esenciales para una tipologia biogeografica distrital consistente en el Parque Nacional de Sierra Nevada (Espana)

An ecosystem management strategy for Sierran mixed-conifer forests 2009.

Effects of fuel treatments on California mixed-conifer forests

In another study of Sierran mixed conifer forests Amacher et al.

Responses of small mammals to wildfire in a mixed conifer forest in the San Bernardino Mountains, California

Barbour, "Influence of light and soil moisture on Sierran mixed-conifer understory communities," Plant Ecology, vol.

The influences of canopy species and topographic variables on understory species diversity and composition in coniferous forests

Allen-Diaz, "The effects of forest management on plant species diversity in a Sierran conifer forest," Forest Ecology and Management, vol.