sky island
n.— «It’s a difficult bird to study because it’s distributed across a fragmented range of mountaintops which we sometimes refer to as “sky islands.”» —“Researchers work to ensure survival of a rare songbird” by Mary Esch in Lake Placid Newsday (Long Island, New York) Aug. 26, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Asthenosphere, a geologist’s term for the molten layer beneath the earth’s crust, sparks a journey that stretches all the way from ancient Greece to the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Plus: What the heck is a dogberg? It’s when...
A young caller from the Hudson Valley of New York wonders about his grandmother’s use of stemwinder to praise a speech she thought was excellent. In the early 1800s, people used pocket watches that had to be wound with a tiny key. Once someone...