Plural of dalle; also refers to a distinctive geographical feature of steep rocky channels or gorges, particularly found in the Pacific Northwest (as in The Dalles in Oregon).
From French 'dalle' meaning flagstone or slab, borrowed into English place names. French fur traders and explorers named geographical features using this term for narrow channels cut through rock.
The Dalles in Oregon is named after French explorers who called rocky river channels 'dalles' (flagstones)—French traders literally named America's geography using their construction vocabulary!
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