Qattara Depression

American  

[kuh-tahr-uh] / kəˈtɑr ə /

noun

1. a desert basin in the Libyan Desert, in northwestern Egypt: lowest point is 435 feet (133 meters) below sea level. 6,950 square miles (18,000 square kilometers).

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Qattara Depression British  

/ kəˈtɑːrə /

noun

1. an arid basin in the Sahara, in NW Egypt, impassable to vehicles. Area: about 18 000 sq km (7000 sq miles). Lowest point: 133 m (435 ft) below sea level

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Etymology

Origin of Qattara Depression

First recorded in 1925–30; from Arabic Qaṭṭārah “dripping”

Example Sentences

On the 40-mile line between the Mediterranean and the wild, serrated Qattara Depression, the Germans had a fixed and deeply fortified front.

From Time Magazine Archive

They drove 65 miles along the coast to Alamein, where Montgomery trounced Rommel's Afrika Korps in World War II, then turned south to the Qattara Depression.

From Time Magazine Archive

For more than two months General Sir Harold Alexander's British had crouched along the 35-mile front stretching from the Qattara Depression to the sea.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Eighth was holding a thin, 40-mile front between the Qattara Depression and the sea.

From Time Magazine Archive

This time he tried to drive such an alley through the British mine fields, between the Eighth Army's southern flank and the Qattara Depression.

From Time Magazine Archive