Definition of "plateau" []

• An elevated, comparatively level expanse of land; a tableland. (noun)
• A relatively stable level, period, or state: Mortgage rates declined, then reached a plateau. (noun)
• To reach a stable level; level off: "The tension seemed to grow by degrees, then it plateaued” ( Tom Clancy). (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "I said this befofre and nobody paid attention, This economy plateau is the result: - NOT FROM REPUBLICAN ENTERPRISE - no-no, but by the DEMOCRAT NARROW VISION AND NOT-TO-CARE-FOR-THE - PEOPLE PRACTICES!!"
• "This part of the plateau is the southern side of the rim of the Congo basin; and it is at the bottom of the basin (a basin open to the west where the Congo River flows into the Atlantic Ocean) that one finds the lands which are steamy, unhealthy and unsuited to permanent white settlement."
• "And if you actually look today at their Hype Cycle for early 2009 to late 2008, the Hype Cycle shows SOA on what they call the plateau of enlightenment."