I. mount 1 /maʊnt/ BrE AmE verb
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: monter 'to go up' , from Latin mons ; ⇨ ↑ mount 2 ]
1 . ORGANIZE [transitive] to plan, organize, and begin an event or a course of action:
The National Gallery mounted an exhibition of Danish painting.
mount a campaign/challenge/search etc
Friends of the Earth are mounting a campaign to monitor the illegal logging of trees.
mount an assault/attack
Guerrillas have mounted an attack on the capital.
2 . INCREASE [intransitive usually in progressive] to increase gradually in amount or degree:
Tension here is mounting, as we await the final result.
Casualties on both sides of the battle have continued to mount.
3 . HORSE/BICYCLE [intransitive and transitive] formal to get on a horse or bicycle OPP dismount :
He mounted his horse and rode on.
4 . GO UP [transitive] formal to go up a step or stairs:
He mounted the stairs and looked around him slowly.
A car suddenly mounted the pavement to avoid a vehicle coming in the opposite direction.
5 . PICTURE [transitive] to fix a picture to a larger piece of stiff paper so that it looks more attractive
mount something on/onto something
Entries to the photography competition should be mounted on white paper.
6 . SEX [transitive] technical if a male animal mounts a female animal, he gets up onto her back to have sex ⇨ ↑ mounted
mount up phrasal verb
to gradually increase in amount:
At £6 a ticket, the cost quickly mounts up.
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THESAURUS
▪ mountain a very high hill:
the highest mountain in Austria
▪ hill an area of land that is higher than the land around it, which is like a mountain but smaller and usually has a rounded top:
We went for a walk in the hills.
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The house is surrounded by woods, farmland and gentle hills.
▪ Mount ( also Mt written abbreviation ) used in the names of mountains. Don’t say ‘Fuji Mountain’ – say ‘Mount Fuji’ :
Mount Everest
▪ cliff the steep side of an area of land, often next to the sea:
the white cliffs of Dover
▪ precipice especially literary a very steep and dangerous cliff:
They were standing on the edge of a precipice.
▪ crag a high steep rock or mountain:
An eagle sailed over the high crags.
▪ ridge a long narrow area of high ground, especially at the top of a mountain:
I could see a group of climbers high up on a ridge.
▪ knoll a small round hill:
a grassy knoll
▪ volcano a mountain with a large hole at the top, through which ↑ lava (=hot liquid rock) is sometimes forced out:
the eruption of a volcano
▪ summit the very highest point of a mountain:
the summit of Mt Everest
▪ peak especially literary the top of a mountain:
the snow-covered peaks of the Himalayas
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a distant peak
▪ range/chain a group of mountains or hills arranged in a line:
the mountain range that is part of the border between Norway and Sweden
▪ foothills a group of smaller hills below a range of high mountains:
the Sierra foothills
II. mount 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Sense 1,4: Date: 800-900 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: mont , from Latin mons 'mountain' ]
[ Sense 2-3: Date: 1300-1400 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ mount 1 ]
1 . Mount ( written abbreviation Mt ) used as part of the name of a mountain:
Mount Everest
2 . formal a horse that you ride on
3 . stiff paper that is put behind or around a picture so that it looks more attractive
4 . literary a mountain