sand dune
14
3.2
- noun
- /sænd duːn/
:
duna
- The tour guide explained how the wind shapes the tall sand dunes in the desert.
- coastal sand dune
They used to have these sand dune hills out there and my dad, he had a Ford Explorer, like sport Trac Explorer type thing.
- They used to have these sand dune hills out there and my dad, he had a Ford Explorer, like sport Trac Explorer type thing.
Examples
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Let's slip off to a sand dune real soon
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The kids came over to me and said, "Papa, Papa! Follow me," and... you know... I followed them about 200 yards across the sand dunes.
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Way down there in the sand dunes.
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And then I went to camp and fell down a sand dune...
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My father caught us out in the sand dunes one night.
Fiction book (2001) -
We'd run up the sand dune and lay there and look at the stars.
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Viewed from the sand dunes to the north, golden beach stretches as far as you can see.
Academic text (1999) -
Establishing shot of the fort as the setting sun creeps over the sand dunes.
Fiction book (1998) -
Each year, along this mix of sandy beaches and sloping sand dunes, an actual memorial takes place.
Academic text (2009) -
Last week, Davenport's class met in sawgrass-covered sand dunes with the ocean pounding away in the background.
Fiction book (2000)
Synonyms
69
2.7
A hill of sand that wind makes on a beach or in a desert
3
3.8
A low hill made of loose sand often near coasts or in deserts
A long narrow sand hill with a sharp top that runs with the wind in deserts like the Sahara
A crescent sand dune moved across deserts by wind
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning of 'sand dune' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'sand' and 'dune' — a dune is a hill of sand, so the compound simply specifies the material. This compositional pattern is literal and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand it.
Etymology
The noun sand dune is a very literal name: it pictures loose sand piling into a small hill called a dune when the wind blows. That's why it means 'a hill or ridge of sand formed by the wind'.