Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The ragged surface of a lava-flow.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Geol.), Southwestern U. S. The rough surface of a congealed lava stream.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun akin to
badlands , but having volcaniclastic rather than sedimentary rocks - noun land having an
underlayer ofbasaltic lava and little or no soil
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The site sits on a landform called malpais, a young, rugged volcanic landscape "that looks like gravel dumped into a big pile," he said.
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I did describe our search through the malpais with the two feds.
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Plain to see, each would guide a party around some predetermined section of the malpais.
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We landed in a gaunt part of the malpais, beyond sight of anything human, and got off.
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It cast pallor and long shadows across the malpais.
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Do you suppose an invalid would traipse around the malpais after dark?
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The night before, in the little cave where he rested, he had seen a snake, though it was much too cold for snakes to be moving about; worse, late in the night, he had heard the call of an owl, though he was far out on the malpais, where no owls flew.
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The night before, in the little cave where he rested, he had seen a snake, though it was much too cold for snakes to be moving about; worse, late in the night, he had heard the call of an owl, though he was far out on the malpais, where no owls flew.
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He knew the large woman must be a witch, for only a witch would be traveling through the malpais with so many men.
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He knew the large woman must be a witch, for only a witch would be traveling through the malpais with so many men.
fbharjo commented on the word malpais
'bad lands' an area of recent (< 1000 years) volcanic basaltic rope lava
March 29, 2009
qms commented on the word malpais
Out West poor Ernest found no fan.
As growled the cowpoke, Dirty Dan,
"I'd rather crawl a far piece
Over sharp malpais
Than talk to that word huntin' man."
Find out more about Ernest Bafflewit
September 18, 2014