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Mountain vs Peak - What's the difference?

mountain | peak |

As nouns the difference between mountain and peak

is that mountain is a large mass of earth and rock, rising above the common level of the earth or adjacent land, usually given by geographers as above 1000 feet in height (or 304.8 metres), though such masses may still be described as hills in comparison with larger mountains while peak is a point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, the peak, or front, of a cap.

As a verb peak is

to reach a highest degree or maximum.

mountain

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A large mass of earth and rock, rising above the common level of the earth or adjacent land, usually given by geographers as above 1000 feet in height (or 304.8 metres), though such masses may still be described as hills in comparison with larger mountains.
    • Everest is the highest mountain in the world.
    We spent the weekend hiking in the mountains .
  • A large amount.
    • There's still a mountain of work to do.
  • (figuratively) A difficult task or challenge.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=October 1 , author=Phil Dawkes , title=Sunderland 2 - 2 West Brom , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Five minutes into the game the Black Cats were facing a mountain , partly because of West Brom's newly-found ruthlessness in front of goal but also as a result of the home side's defensive generosity.}}

    Derived terms

    * Chinese mountain cat * faith will move mountains * folded mountain * have a mountain to climb * if the mountain won't come to Muhammad * make a mountain out of a molehill * mountain ash * mountain bearberry * mountain bike * mountain boarding * mountain building * mountain buzzard * mountain cat * mountain chain * mountain climbing * mountain cranberry * mountain dew * mountain fever * mountain goat * mountain gorilla * mountain hare * mountain laurel * mountain lion * mountain range * mountain reindeer * mountain sheep * mountain sickness * mountain top removal mining * mountain unit * mountain zebra * mountaineer * mountaineering * mountainless * mountainous * mountainside * mountaintop * snow on the mountain * Stoliczka's mountain vole * table mountain * White Cloud Mountain minnow

    Related terms

    * mount

    See also

    *

    External links

    * (wikipedia "mountain") *

    References

    * *

    Anagrams

    * 1000 English basic words

    peak

    English

    (wikipedia peak)

    Etymology 1

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, the peak, or front, of a cap.
  • The highest value reached by some quantity in a time period.
    • The stock market reached a peak in September 1929.
  • * 2012 October 23, David Leonhardt, "[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/us/politics/race-for-president-leaves-income-slump-in-shadows.html?_r=1&hp]," New York Times (retrieved 24 October 2012):
    • By last year, family income was 8 percent lower than it had been 11 years earlier, at its peak in 2000, according to inflation-adjusted numbers from the Census Bureau.
  • (geography) The top, or one of the tops, of a hill, mountain, or range, ending in a point; often, the whole hill or mountain, especially when isolated; as, the Peak of Teneriffe.
  • (nautical) The upper aftermost corner of a fore-and-aft sail; -- used in many combinations; as, peak-halyards, peak-brails, etc.
  • (nautical) The narrow part of a vessel's bow, or the hold within it.
  • (nautical) The extremity of an anchor fluke; the bill.
  • (mathematics) A local maximum of a function, e.g. for sine waves, each point at which the value of y is at its maximum.
    • Synonyms
    * apex, pinnacle, top, summit * See also
    Derived terms
    * peakless * peaklike * peakwise

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To reach a highest degree or maximum.
    • Historians argue about when the Roman Empire began to peak and ultimately decay.
  • To rise or extend into a peak or point; to form, or appear as, a peak.
  • * Holland
    • There peaketh up a mighty high mount.
    Synonyms
    * culminate
    Derived terms
    * off-peak

    Etymology 2

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To become sick or wan.
  • To acquire sharpness of figure or features; hence, to look thin or sickly.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Dwindle, peak , and pine.
  • To pry; to peep slyly.
    • (Shakespeare)

    Etymology 3

    Verb

    (en verb)