canyon

¹

Or ca·ñon

[kan-yuhn]

noun

1. a deep valley with steep sides, often with a stream flowing through it.

   Synonyms: coulee, arroyo, gap, pass, ravine, gully, gorge

Canyon

²

[kan-yuhn]

noun

1. a town in N Texas.

canyon

/ ˈkænjən /

noun

1. a gorge or ravine, esp in North America, usually formed by the down-cutting of a river in a dry area where there is insufficient rainfall to erode the sides of the valley

canyon

1. A long, deep, narrow valley with steep cliff walls, cut into the Earth by running water and often having a stream at the bottom.

Word History and Origins

Origin of canyon¹

An Americanism first recorded in 1835–45; from Colonial Spanish (Mexico, southwestern U.S.), Spanish cañón “a long tube, a hollow,” equivalent to cañ(a) “tube” (from Latin canna cane ) + -on augmentative suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of canyon¹

C19: from Spanish cañón, from caña tube, from Latin canna cane

Example Sentences

Wealthy candidates face a significant “empathy canyon” with voters, who remain skeptical that individuals with hundreds of millions of dollars can genuinely understand the daily struggles of average Californians earning median household incomes.

From Los Angeles Times

“Not only do they volunteer their time, these are people who lug couches out of a canyon.”

From Los Angeles Times

Perched 8,750 feet up in a box canyon in the Colorado Rockies, it’s reachable only by twisting roads or a white-knuckle drop into one of the nation’s highest airports.

From Los Angeles Times

So Underwood redesigned the structure, creating a more rustic lodge out of the original stonework, perched on the very edge of the canyon.

From Los Angeles Times

It can’t be completed solely on foot, and hikers need rope and equipment to rappel down the canyon and to make their way back up.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• gorge 
• gully 
• ravine 
• valley