valley

noun, plural val·leys.

1. an elongated depression between uplands, hills, or mountains, especially one following the course of a stream.
2. an extensive, more or less flat, and relatively low region drained by a great river system.
3. any depression or hollow resembling a valley.
4. a low point or interval in any process, representation, or situation.
5. any place, period, or situation that is filled with fear, gloom, foreboding, or the like: the valley of despair.
6. Architecture. a depression or angle formed by the meeting of two inclined sides of a roof.
7. the lower phase of a horizontal wave motion.

noun

1. a long depression in the land surface, usually containing a river, formed by erosion or by movements in the earth’s crust
2. the broad area drained by a single river systemthe Thames valley
3. any elongated depression resembling a valley
4. the junction of a roof slope with another or with a wall
5. (modifier) relating to or proceeding by way of a valleya valley railway

n.

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.).

1. 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.