berm

[ burm ]
See synonyms for berm on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Also berme. Fortification. a horizontal surface between the exterior slope of a rampart and the moat.

  2. Also called bench. any level strip of ground at the summit or sides, or along the base, of a slope.

  1. Also called backshore, beach berm. a nearly flat back portion of a beach, formed of material deposited by the action of the waves.

  2. Chiefly Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. the bank of a canal or the shoulder of a road.

  3. Chiefly Alaska. a mound of snow or dirt, as formed when clearing land.

  4. a bank of earth placed against an exterior wall or walls of a house or other building as protection against extremes of temperature.

verb (used with object)
  1. to cover or protect with a berm: The side walls were bermed to a height of three feet.

Origin of berm

1
1720–30; <French berme<Dutch berm; akin to brim1

Words Nearby berm

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

How to use berm in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for berm

berm

berme

/ (bɜːm) /


noun
  1. a narrow path or ledge at the edge of a slope, road, or canal

  2. NZ the grass verge of a suburban street, usually kept mown

  1. fortifications a narrow path or ledge between a moat and a rampart

  2. military a man-made ridge of sand, designed as an obstacle to tanks, which, in crossing it, have to expose their vulnerable underparts

Origin of berm

1
C18: from French berme, from Dutch berm, probably from Old Norse barmr brim

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 berm

berm

[ bûrm ]


  1. A nearly horizontal or landward-sloping portion of a beach formed by the deposition of sediment by storm waves. A beach may have no berm at all, or it may have more than one berm.

  2. A narrow man-made ledge or shelf, as along the top or bottom of a slope.

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