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Glite Dictionary
Cascade Mountains

Cascade Mountains

1 3.5
A mountain range in northwest United States running through Washington, Oregon and northern California with volcanic peaks
  • proper noun
  • /kæˈskeɪd ˈmaʊntənz/
translation icon : Montañas Cascade
  • The delays range from 3 minutes at the Geysers, a geothermal field just north of the Napa Valley, to 33 hours at a site in the Cascade Mountains of Idaho.

Examples

  • Many outdoor enthusiasts visit the Cascade Mountains each year to experience their breathtaking scenery.

  • The Cascade Mountains stretch from northern California all the way to British Columbia, providing a habitat for diverse wildlife.

  • The rooms are built with a view of the Cascade Mountains of Central Oregon.

    Academic text (2007)

  • Range: From southern British Columbia to northern California and from the eastern base of the Cascade Mountains of Washington and Oregon to the Pacific coast.

    Academic text (1993)

  • The Cascade Mountains created a natural boundary between tribes along the Pacific coast and those of the interior.

    Academic text (1990)

  • These so-called "unattached Indians" were scattered from Tacoma in the south to Canada in the north and from the west coast back to the Cascade Mountains.

    Academic text (1990)

  • Most of the Coast Salish people resided in the interior to the east of the Cascade Mountains, usually inhabiting each drainage system or contiguous valleys emptying into Puget Sound.

    Academic text (1990)

  • The Cascade Mountains are famous for their stunning volcanic peaks and beautiful hiking trails.

Synonyms

Cascades
vsCascade Mountains
9 5.0

A mountain range in the northwest United States with many volcanoes

is identical in meaning but uses a fuller geographic name
Cascade Range
vsCascade Mountains
5.8

A long mountain range in the northwest United States across Washington, Oregon and northern California

emphasizes volcanic peaks as a defining feature absent here

Surface Forms

Cascade Mountains main

Morphology

Cascade + mountain

The element 'mountains' makes clear to a B1 learner that the phrase refers to mountains, so part of the meaning is transparent. However, 'Cascade' here functions as a proper name rather than the common noun 'cascade' (waterfall), and the specific reference to a named mountain range in the northwestern US (with volcanic peaks) cannot be fully derived from the constituents alone, making the expression only partially predictable.

Etymology

Cascade Mountains comes from the many cascades — steep waterfalls on rivers that run down the mountain slopes. Early explorers used those falls as clear markers, so the word 'cascade' became the name for the whole mountain range.