cirque

Examples

• All

• The terrain was rough, made up of sharply fractured pieces of sedimentary rock from the cirque.

  Academic text (2011)

• The backdrop was a classic cirque—a mountainous, three-sided, steep-walled basin that had been carved by a glacier.

  Academic text (2011)

• Due west was the giant cirque that had filled with blue ice after a freak storm last fall.

  Fiction book (1991)

• He was in the mountains, in the high cirque again.

  Fiction book (1991)

• Indeed, the U shape of the cirque had inspired the name "Horseshoe Mountain."

  Academic text (2011)

• To climb the summit, we clamber along a schist-filled trail as it weaves around the bottom of a cavernous glacial cirque.

  Academic text (2007)

• The hikers were amazed by the breathtaking view of the cirque, with its steep walls and a pristine glacial lake at the bottom.

• As we ascended the mountain, we could see the beautiful cirque formed by ancient glaciers, its semicircular shape standing out against the rocky terrain.

Synonyms

C

corrie

vscirque

• UK

1 9.9

A steep hollow on a mountainside that often holds a small lake

is the same feature but named with a different word form

C

cwm

vscirque

• UK

1 9.9

A steep, bowl-shaped hollow in a mountain often holding a small lake

is the same feature but named using a different word form

How Steep

cliff

438 1.0

cirque

• Specialized

5 9.9

hollow

44 3.9

gentle

27 1.0

Surface Forms

Etymology