corrie
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of corrie
First recorded in 1785–95, corrie is from the Scots Gaelic word coire cauldron, whirlpool, hollow
Explanation
A corrie is a bowl-shaped indentation in the side or top of a mountain. Corries are formed by glaciers, and they often turn into small lakes over time as they fill with water. Another name for a corrie is a cirque. These landforms are commonly described as "natural amphitheaters," based on their round, concave shape. It takes glacial ice flowing in different directions to gradually carve a corrie from mountain rock. The deep basin then catches any melting water and forms a lake known as a tarn. Corrie comes from the Scottish Gaelic coire, "pot or cauldron."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Sphinx lies in Garbh Choire Mor, a hollow known as a corrie formed by ice or a glacier during the last ice age.
From BBC • Oct. 8, 2022
After following a five-pointer stag for over four hours, they had it trapped in a corrie.
From Time Magazine Archive
Perchance I'll find His whip that drives the clouds o'er the fells, And cracks in the corrie, like short, sharp bells.
From The Dales of Arcady by Ratcliffe, Dorothy Una
"Perhaps—perhaps it's all because this is the end instead of the beginning of a cultus corrie."
From Told In The Hills by Ryan, Marah Ellis
At every opening in the hills an ice-cold wind whirled down glen and corrie, sleet and hail-stones beat against their faces, the frozen pools in the marshes gave way beneath their feet.
From The Animal Story Book by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
