headwall
1
8.4
- noun
- /ˈhɛdˌwɔl/
- Specialized
:
cima
- As they approached the glacier, they could see the steep headwall looming ahead, marking the end of the cirque.
- schuss the headwall
- top of the headwall
- canyon headwall
Examples
-
Later, I learned that the trailhead is three thousand feet higher than Rainbow Bridge, and a full fifteen hundred of those vertical feet are climbed right there, on the headwall of Cliff Canyon.
Fiction book (1991) -
In the late afternoon, the path abruptly leveled and began a long gradual turn, a steep drop on one side and a nearly perpendicular headwall on the other.
Fiction book (1992) -
The climbers reached the top of the rocky headwall, where the view of the valley below was breathtaking.
-
The hikers paused to catch their breath before attempting to scale the headwall that guarded the entrance to the hidden lake.
Synonyms
438
1.0
A high, steep edge of rock or ground often by the sea
3
8.2
A long steep slope or cliff that separates higher land from lower land
1
8.5
A layer of hard rock forming the steep edge of a high flat area or canyon
Very steep and high, like the edge of a cliff
A steep rocky bank beside a river or stream
How Steep
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Headwall is made of head ('top') and wall ('barrier' or 'face'). So, a headwall is the steep cliff or rock face at the upper end of a valley that looks like a wall at the valley's head.