katabatic
(of a wind or air current) moving downward or down a slope.: Compare anabatic (def. 1).
Origin of katabatic
1Words Nearby katabatic
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use katabatic in a sentence
Cold katabatic winds blowing down a mountain, huffed from a glacier’s snout and said to be its spirit.
‘Ice Rivers’ invites you to get to know our world’s melting glaciers | Carolyn Gramling | September 24, 2021 | Science News
British Dictionary definitions for katabatic
/ (ˌkætəˈbætɪk) /
(of winds) blowing downhill through having become denser with cooling, esp at night when heat is lost from the earth's surface: Compare anabatic
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
Scientific definitions for katabatic
[ kăt′ə-băt′ĭk ]
Relating to wind currents that blow down a gradient, especially down the slopes of a mountain or glacier. When air comes in contact with the cool surface of a glacier or the upper regions of a mountain or slope, the air cools, becomes dense, and blows downward. Katabatic winds are usually cool and are especially common at night in polar regions. Compare anabatic.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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