A group of more than 1,000 islands off southeast Alaska. The rugged, heavily forested islands are the exposed tops of submerged coastal mountains that rise steeply from the Pacific Ocean.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.