valley

[val-ee] /ˈvæl i/

noun, plural valleys.

an elongated depression between uplands, hills, or mountains, especially one following the course of a stream.

an extensive, more or less flat, and relatively low region drained by a great river system.

any depression or hollow resembling a valley.

a low point or interval in any process, representation, or situation.

any place, period, or situation that is filled with fear, gloom, foreboding, or the like:

the valley of despair.

Architecture. a depression or angle formed by the meeting of two inclined sides of a roof.

the lower phase of a horizontal wave motion.

Origin

1250-1300; Middle English valeie, valey < Old French valee, equivalent to val vale¹ + -ee < Latin -āta, feminine of -ātus -ate¹

Related forms

valleylike, adjective

intervalley, noun

Examples from the web for valley

Some attendees wondered how economists would ever get out of this valley.
There was a rose-covered pergola and a terrace overlooking the valley, which was surrounded by a ragged string of mountains.
The driveway is a long, slow hairpin slide through eucalyptus down to the bottom of the valley.
Triangles are a kind of valley in the energy landscape of snowflake morphology.
They had arrived from another valley and were attempting an intricate series of crossings.
Cities in the central valley rebuilt on top of a secretly-replaced water system.
We are in a valley and, as it turned out, were a bit sheltered.
The valley is a place free of problems, where any desire is quickly satisfied.
Moraine valley community college operates a satellite facility uptown.
valley bog these develop in gently sloping valleys or hollows.

British Dictionary definitions for valley

valley

/ˈvælɪ/

noun

a long depression in the land surface, usually containing a river, formed by erosion or by movements in the earth's crust

the broad area drained by a single river system: the Thames valley

any elongated depression resembling a valley

the junction of a roof slope with another or with a wall

(modifier) relating to or proceeding by way of a valley: a valley railway

Word Origin

C13: from Old French valee, from Latin vallis

Word Origin and History for valley

late 13c., from Anglo-Norman valey, Old French valee "a valley," from Vulgar Latin *vallata, from Latin vallis "valley," of unknown origin. Valley Girl (in reference to San Fernando Valley of California) was popularized 1982 in song by Frank Zappa and his daughter. Valley of Death was anglicized in Middle English as Helldale (mid-13c.).

valley in Science

valley

(vāl'ē)
A long, narrow region of low land between ranges of mountains, hills, or other high areas, often having a river or stream running along the bottom. Valleys are most commonly formed through the erosion of land by rivers or glaciers. They also form where large regions of land are lowered because of geological faults.

valley in the Bible

(1.) Heb. bik'ah, a "cleft" of the mountains (Deut. 8:7; 11:11; Ps. 104:8; Isa. 41:18); also a low plain bounded by mountains, as the plain of Lebanon at the foot of Hermon around the sources of the Jordan (Josh. 11:17; 12:7), and the valley of Megiddo (2 Chr. 35:22). (2.) 'Emek, "deep;" "a long, low plain" (Job 39:10, 21; Ps. 65:13; Cant. 2:1), such as the plain of Esdraelon; the "valley of giants" (Josh. 15:8), usually translated "valley of Rephaim" (2 Sam. 5:18); of Elah (1 Sam. 17:2), of Berachah (2 Chr. 20:26); the king's "dale" (Gen. 14:17); of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:2, 12), of Achor (Josh. 7:24; Isa. 65:10), Succoth (Ps. 60:6), Ajalon (Josh. 10:12), Jezreel (Hos. 1:5). (3.) Ge, "a bursting," a "flowing together," a narrow glen or ravine, such as the valley of the children of Hinnom (2 Kings 23:10); of Eshcol (Deut. 1:24); of Sorek (Judg. 16:4), etc. The "valley of vision" (Isa. 22:1) is usually regarded as denoting Jerusalem, which "may be so called," says Barnes (Com. on Isa.), "either (1) because there were several valleys within the city and adjacent to it, as the vale between Mount Zion and Moriah, the vale between Mount Moriah and Mount Ophel, between these and Mount Bezetha, and the valley of Jehoshaphat, the valley of the brook Kidron, etc., without the walls of the city; or (2) more probably it was called the valley in reference to its being compassed with hills rising to a considerable elevation above the city" (Ps. 125:2; comp. also Jer. 21:13, where Jerusalem is called a "valley"). (4.) Heb. nahal, a wady or water-course (Gen. 26:19; Cant. 6:11).