SIERRA NEVADA

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Sierra Nevada mean? 

• SIERRA NEVADA (noun)
  The noun SIERRA NEVADA has 2 senses:

1. a mountain range in southern Spain along the Mediterranean coast to the east of Granada

2. a mountain range in eastern California; contains Mount Whitney

  Familiarity information: SIERRA NEVADA used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SIERRA NEVADA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A mountain range in southern Spain along the Mediterranean coast to the east of Granada

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Instance hypernyms:

chain; chain of mountains; mountain chain; mountain range; range; range of mountains (a series of hills or mountains)

Holonyms ("Sierra Nevada" is a part of...):

Espana; Kingdom of Spain; Spain (a parliamentary monarchy in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula; a former colonial power)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A mountain range in eastern California; contains Mount Whitney

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

High Sierra; Sierra Nevada; Sierra Nevada Mountains

Instance hypernyms:

chain; chain of mountains; mountain chain; mountain range; range; range of mountains (a series of hills or mountains)

Meronyms (parts of "Sierra Nevada"):

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)

Mount Whitney; Whitney (the highest peak in the Sierra Nevada range in California (14,494 feet high))

Holonyms ("Sierra Nevada" is a part of...):

CA; Calif.; California; Golden State (a state in the western United States on the Pacific; the 3rd largest state; known for earthquakes)

 Context examples 

The team led by University of Wyoming (UW) scientists took samples of live pine needles in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

(Study reveals surprising role of dust in mountain ecosystems, National Science Foundation)

In Sierra Nevada, water is sown and harvested by means of the so-called acequias (irrigation channels) de careo.

(Researchers demonstrate that Sierra Nevada is home to the oldest underground water recharge system in Europe, University of Granada)

Riebe and his team discovered, however, that expansion in rocks dominates the weathering process in the southern Sierra Nevada region.

(Study explores how rock expands near soil surface in Sierra Nevada, National Science Foundation)

Loss of water from the rocks of California's Sierra Nevada caused the mountain range to rise nearly an inch (24 millimeters) in height during the drought years from October 2011 to October 2015.

(Sierras Lost Water Weight, Grew Taller During Drought, NASA)

The observations were carried out using the CARMENES instrument (Calar Alto High-Resolution Search for M dwarfs with Exoearths with Near-infrared and optical Échelle Spectrographs) at the Calar Alto Observatory in Almería, as well as at smaller, complementary facilities, such as the Sierra Nevada Observatory in Granada and the Joan Oró Telescope at the Observatori Astronomic del Montsec, which pertains to the Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC).

(Researchers find two new planets with masses similar to Earth’s near a small neighbouring star, University of Granada)

These calculations show that the practices of sowing and harvesting water on Sierra Nevada date back about 1,300 years.

(Researchers demonstrate that Sierra Nevada is home to the oldest underground water recharge system in Europe, University of Granada)

Trees growing atop granite in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains rely on nutrients from windborne dust more than on nutrients from the underlying bedrock.

(Study reveals surprising role of dust in mountain ecosystems, National Science Foundation)

A University of Wyoming researcher and his team have discovered that weathering of subsurface rock in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains of California is due more to rocks expanding than to chemical decomposition, as previously thought.

(Study explores how rock expands near soil surface in Sierra Nevada, National Science Foundation)

The archaeological and historical research conducted on this project has shown that there were acequias de careo operating in Sierra Nevada as early as the 11th Century.

(Researchers demonstrate that Sierra Nevada is home to the oldest underground water recharge system in Europe, University of Granada)

A multidisciplinary group of scientists from the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME) and the Universities of Granada, Cologne, and Lisbon has demonstrated that the traditional careo underground aquifer recharge system used in Sierra Nevada is the oldest in Europe.

(Researchers demonstrate that Sierra Nevada is home to the oldest underground water recharge system in Europe, University of Granada)