dune

American  

[doon, dyoon] / dun, dyun /

noun

1. a sand hill or sand ridge formed by the wind, usually in desert regions or near lakes and oceans.

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dune British  

/ djuːn /

noun

1. a mound or ridge of drifted sand, occurring on the sea coast and in deserts

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dune Scientific  

/ do̅o̅n /

1. A hill or ridge of wind-blown sand. Dunes are capable of moving by the motion of their individual grains but usually keep the same shape.

2. See more at barchan dune draa longitudinal dune seif dune transverse dune

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Etymology

Origin of dune

1780–90; < French, Old French < Middle Dutch dūna; cognate with down ³

Example Sentences

I was two days into the Gobi March, a brutal 155-mile ultramarathon through the steppes, sand dunes and rock valleys of Central Mongolia.

From The Wall Street Journal

Emojis, Disney characters, cigarettes and more pile up in humorous scenes that include a saber-toothed tiger driving a dune buggy and a pair of corvids fighting over a worm.

From The Wall Street Journal

They had lain undiscovered beneath sand dunes but were exposed when they were scoured away by strong winds and high tides.

From BBC

Thomas Quarry I sits within the raised coastal formations of the Rabat-Casablanca littoral, an area internationally recognized for its remarkably complete record of Plio-Pleistocene shorelines, dunes, and cave systems.

From Science Daily

I dream of lizards, dark skies, sand dunes and sunsets streaked in rose-mauve and smoky violet, the air heavy with the scent of wet creosote and campfire smoke.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• knoll
• ridge
• sand dune