chasm

[ kaz-uhm ]
See synonyms for chasm on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a yawning fissure or deep cleft in the earth's surface; gorge.

  2. a breach or wide fissure in a wall or other structure.

  1. a marked interruption of continuity; gap: a chasm in time.

  2. a sundering breach in relations, as a divergence of opinions, beliefs, etc., between persons or groups.

Origin of chasm

1
1590–1600; apocopated variant of chasma<Latin <Greek, equivalent to cha- (root of chaínein to gape; see yawn) + -(a)sma resultative suffix

Other words from chasm

  • chasmal, chasmic, adjective
  • chasmed, adjective
  • chasmy, adjective

Words Nearby chasm

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use chasm in a sentence

  • At a distance of four miles from the colony, a waterfall foams down a chasm which it has worn away for itself.

  • The procession, preceded by Bob on his feathered steed, passed through a chasm overgrown with brambles.

    Honey-Bee | Anatole France
  • In most cases the roofs over these sea caves fall in, so that the structure is known as a chasm.

    Outlines of the Earth's History | Nathaniel Southgate Shaler
  • Two miles to the east the San Juan burst out of a defile of sandstone, and a mile to the west it disappeared in a similar chasm.

    Overland | John William De Forest
  • He was in a chasm, twenty-five hundred feet below the average surface of the earth, the floor of which was a swift river.

    Overland | John William De Forest

British Dictionary definitions for chasm

chasm

/ (ˈkæzəm) /


noun
  1. a deep cleft in the ground; abyss

  2. a break in continuity; gap

  1. a wide difference in interests, feelings, etc

Origin of chasm

1
C17: from Latin chasma, from Greek khasma; related to Greek khainein to gape

Derived forms of chasm

  • chasmal (ˈkæzməl) or chasmic, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012