mount

plural mounts

1. A hill or mountain.
2. palmistryAny of seven fleshy prominences in the palm of the hand, taken to represent the influences of various heavenly bodies.

   the mount of Jupiter

   Synonyms: mons

3. obsoleteA bulwark for offence or defence; a mound.

   ⸿ For thus hath the Lord of hoſtes said ; Hew yee downe trees and ‖ caſt a mount againſt Jeruſalem : this is the citie to be viſited, ſhe is wholly oppreſſion in the midſt of her.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jeremiah 6:6, columns 2–1

4. obsoleteA bank; a fund.
5. governmentA green hillock in the base of a shield.

plural mounts

1. An animal, usually a horse, used to ride on.

   The rider climbed onto his mount.

   Synonyms: steed

2. figurativelyA car, bicycle, or motorcycle used for racing.
3. A mounting; an object on which another object is mounted.

   The post is the mount on which the mailbox is installed.

4. obsoleteA rider in a cavalry unit or division.

   The General said he has 2,000 mounts.

5. A step or block to assist in mounting a horse.
6. A signal for mounting a horse.
7. governmentA dominant ground grappling position, where one combatant sits on the other combatants torso with the face pointing towards the opponent's head.
8. gymnasticsThe act of getting onto the apparatus.

present singular third person mounts · participle present mounting · participle past mounted · past mounted

1. transitiveTo get upon; to ascend; to climb.

   to mount stairs

   2 more examples

   Or shall we mount again the Rural Throne, And rule the Country Kingdoms, once our own?

   1697, Virgil, “(please specify the page)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

   This time I was received with a smile. Monsieur Poirot was within. Would I mount? I mounted accordingly.

   1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 144

2. transitiveTo place oneself on (a horse, a bicycle, etc.); to bestride.

   The rider mounted his horse.

3. transitiveTo cause to mount; to put on horseback; to furnish with animals for riding.

   to mount the Trojan troop

   1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

4. obsoletetransitiveTo cause (something) to rise or ascend; to drive up; to raise; to elevate; to lift up.

   What power is it which mounts my love so high?

   c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]

5. transitivegovernmentTo sit on a combatant's torso with the face pointing towards the opponent's head; to assume the mount position in ground grappling.
6. intransitiverareTo rise on high; to go up; to be upraised or uplifted; to tower aloft; to ascend; often with up.

   The fire of trees and houses mounts on high.

   1656, Abraham Cowley, Davideis

   4 more examples

   Though Babylon ſhould mount vp to heauen, and though ſhee ſhould fortifie the height of her ſtrength, yet from me ſhall ſpoilers come vnto her, ſaith the Lord.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jeremiah 51:53, column 1

   I was at the Mathematical School, where the Maſter taught his Pupils after a Method ſcarce imaginable to us in Europe. The Propoſition and Demonſtration were fairly written on a thin Wafer, with Ink compoſed of a Cephalick Tincture. This the Student was to ſwallow upon a faſting Stomach, and for three days following eat nothing but Bread and Water. As the Wafer digeſted, the Tincture mounted to his Brain, bearing the Propoſition along with it.

   1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author Permitted to See the Grand Academy of Lagado. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part III (A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Glubbdubdribb, Luggnagg, and Japan), page 78

   ⁠Thy spirit ere our fatal loss ⁠Did ever rise from high to higher; ⁠As mounts the heavenward altar-fire, As flies the lighter thro’ the gross.

   1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XL”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 62

   So Tse-gu-dzih in wrath locked the rain-gates, and the waters mounted to the sky.

   1918, James George Frazer, Folk-Lore In The Old Testament, volume 1, page 213

7. transitiveTo attach (an object) to a support, backing, framework etc.

   to mount an engine in a car

   5 more examples

   to mount a mailbox on a post

   to mount a specimen on a small plate of glass for viewing by a microscope

   to mount a photograph on cardboard

   But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶[…]The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window at the old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook, and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge,[…].

   1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC

   “My Continental prominence is improving,” I commented dryly. Von Lindowe cut at a furze bush with his silver-mounted rattan. “Quite so,” he said as dryly, his hand at his mustache. “I may say if your intentions were known your life would not be worth a curse.”

   1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC

8. transitivecomputingTo attach (a drive or device) to the file system in order to make it available to the operating system.

   Burn the contents of the staging area onto a writable CD-ROM, carry it over to the Web server, and mount it.

   1998, Lincoln D. Stein, Web Security: A Step-by-step Reference Guide, page 377

9. intransitivesometimeswith upTo increase in quantity or intensity.

   The bills mounted up and the business failed.  There is mounting tension in Crimea.

   Synonyms: build

10. obsoleteTo attain in value; to amount (to).

    Bring then these blessings to a strict account, Make fair deductions, see to what they mount.

    1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify |epistle=I to IV), London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC

11. transitiveTo get on top of (another) for the purpose of copulation.

    When God presented Lilith to Adam, Adam was overjoyed and enthusiastically set her on the ground and tried to mount her after the fashion of the animals; but Lilith protested and said: "Why should I be on the bottom and you on the top?"

    1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 16

12. transitiveTo have or begin sexual intercourse with someone.

    She mounted him last night.

    Synonyms: coitize

13. transitiveTo begin (a campaign, military assault, etc.); to launch.

    The General gave the order to mount the attack.

    3 more examples

    For Liverpool, their season will now be regarded as a relative disappointment after failure to add the FA Cup to the Carling Cup and not mounting a challenge to reach the Champions League places.

    2012 May 5, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport

    Corals mount a two-stage response to heat stress, first bleaching and then dying. Some of the southernmost reefs, exposed to the hottest water, are already dead but those in slightly cooler locations have a better chance of survival and regeneration.

    2023 August 7, Clive Cookson, “Missing ice and bleached coral: the sudden warming of the oceans”, in Financial Times

    A Bolivian general has been arrested and accused of mounting a coup against the government after attempting to storm the presidential palace on Wednesday.

    2024 July 27, “Bolivian general arrested and accused of coup after dramatic showdown with president”, in edition.cnn.com

14. archaictransitiveTo deploy (cannon) for use.

    to mount a cannon

15. transitiveTo prepare and arrange the scenery, furniture, etc. for use in (a play or production).
16. cookingTo incorporate fat, especially butter, into (a dish, especially a sauce to finish it).

    Mount the sauce with one tablespoon of butter.

plural Mounts

1. countableuncountableA surname.
2. countableuncountableA hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, Cornwall, England (OS grid ref SW7856).
3. countableuncountableA hamlet in Warleggan parish, east Cornwall (OS grid ref SX1468).