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a mountain range in s europe, extending from france through switzerland and italy into austria, slovenia, and croatia. highest peak, mont blanc, 15,781 feet (4810 meters).
a high mountain.
contemporary examples

then i realized [we were] outside of italy when i recognized the alps.
inside the ethiopian airlines hijacking terror barbie latza nadeau february 17, 2014

roughly 30 people die each year in the alps in climbing related accidents.
michael ybarra’s death underscores the allure and dangers of solo climbing scott c. johnson july 14, 2012

jamie dimon of jpmorgan chase seemed to be the only banker scowling in the alps this week.
political tensions takes center stage at world economic forum daniel gross january 26, 2013

the long-term chart of the tech-heavy nasdaq composite index looks like the profile of an alps stage of the tour de france.
microsoft ceo steve ballmer finally out after a 13-year reign daniel gross august 22, 2013

a two-and-a-half-hour drive later, we were winding through the alps, up medieval streets and below icy cliffs.
war games: microsoft invades liechtenstein for halo 4 blowout alex klein november 7, 2012

historical examples

having learnt to speak il tedesco, and being no longer able to fit out a vessel, i made my venture beyond the alps; but, alas!
the dove in the eagle’s nest charlotte m. yonge

his lip curled once at the conceit that he was one of the alps himself.
the market-place harold frederic

in the localities named north of the alps, even as far as denmark, it is probably naturalized from cultivation.
origin of cultivated plants alphonse de candolle

or it may be that village in savoy, at the foot of the alps.
the bramleighs of bishop’s folly charles james lever

but they met with no success in their forays towards the alps.
encyclopaedia britannica, 11th edition, volume 3, part 1, slice 1 various

plural noun
a mountain range in s central europe, extending over 1000 km (650 miles) from the mediterranean coast of france and nw italy through switzerland, n italy, and austria to slovenia. highest peak: mont blanc, 4807 m (15 771 ft)
a range of mountains in the nw quadrant of the moon, which is cut in two by a straight fracture, the alpine valley
noun
(in the european alps) an area of pasture above the valley bottom but below the mountain peaks
a high mountain
abbreviation
australian labor party

see alp.
n.

1590s, “any high, snow-capped mountain,” from alps, from french alpes, from latin alpes “the alps,” perhaps from altus “high,” or albus “white” or from a celtic word (according to servius), or a pre-indo-european root. alps, the european mountain range, attested by that name in english from 1550s.

mountain system of south-central europe.

note: the alps provide scenic beauty and the location for an abundance of winter sports, making them a popular tourist destination.

language
1. an interpreted algebraic language for the bendix g15 developed by dr. richard v. andree (? – 1987), joel c. ewing and others of the university of oklahoma from spring 1966 (possibly 1965).
dale peters reports that in the summer of 1966 he attended the second year of an nsf-sponsored summer inst-tute in mathematics and computing at the university of oklahoma. dr. andree’s computing cl-ss mostly used the language go-go, later renamed alps. the language changed frequently during the cl-ss, which was occasionally disorienting. dale believes it was also used in summer 1965 and that it was about this time that john g. kemeny (one of the designers of dartmouth basic, 1963) saw it during a visit.
dr. andree’s january 1967 cl-ss mimeo notes on alps begin: “alps is a new programming language designed and perfected by mr. harold bradbury, mr. joel ewing and mr. harold wiebe, members of the o.u. mathematics computer consultants group under the direction of dr. richard v. andree. alps is designed to be used with a minimum of training to solve numerical problems on a computer with typewriter stations and using man-computer cooperation by persons who have little familiarity with advanced mathematics.”
the initial version of what evolved into alps was designed and implemented by joel ewing (a pre-senior undergrad) in g15 machine language out of frustration with the lack of applications to use the g15’s dual-case alphanumeric i/o capabilities. harold wiebe also worked on the code. others, including ralph howenstine, a member of the o.u. math computer consultants group, contributed to the design of extensions and dr. andree auth-r-d all the instructional materials, made the outside world aware of the language and encouraged work on the language.
(2006-10-10)
2. a parallel logic language.
[“synchronization and scheduling in alps objects”, p. vishnubhotia, proc 8th intl conf distrib com sys, ieee 1988, pp. 256-264].
(1994-11-24)
american labor party