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Synonyms

cirque

American  
[surk] / sɜrk /

noun

  1. circle; ring.

  2. a bowl-shaped, steep-walled mountain basin carved by glaciation, often containing a small, round lake.

cirque British  
/ sɜːk /

noun

  1. Also called: corrie.   cwm.  a semicircular or crescent-shaped basin with steep sides and a gently sloping floor formed in mountainous regions by the erosive action of a glacier

  2. archaeol an obsolete term for circle

  3. poetic a circle, circlet, or ring

"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
cirque Scientific  
/ sûrk /

  1. A steep, amphitheatre-shaped hollow occurring at the upper end of a mountain valley, especially one forming the head of a glacier or stream. Cirques are formed by the erosive activity of glaciers and often contain a small lake.

Etymology

Origin of cirque

1595–1605; < French < Latin circus; circus

Explanation

A cirque is a bowl-shaped indentation carved into the side or top of a mountain by a glacier. In warmer conditions, cirques gradually fill with water to form small, deep lakes called tarns. A cirque can also be called a corrie. North America has several of these steep-sided natural basins, including the Iceberg Cirque in Glacier National Park and Cirque of the Towers in Wyoming. The rounded shape of a cirque is often described as resembling an amphitheater or an armchair, with one lower edge. Cirques are carved out of the top or side of a mountain by glacial ice, which slowly moves, carving away the bedrock. Cirque means "circle" in French.

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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.

Mann also took her cues from Teatro ZinZanni, a cirque entertainment show inside the Lotte Hotel Seattle that is celebrating 25 years.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 2, 2023

This mile-long paved trail, which goes by bogs, meadows and waterfalls, leads to a stunning lake in a cirque surrounded by mountains.

From New York Times • Jun. 19, 2023

The trail takes you through aspen, birch and pine groves until it reaches a small basalt column cirque with a peaceful waterfall.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 6, 2021

At the time, between 10,000 and 6,300 years ago, there was limited sediment accumulation in Delta Lake that suggests a reduction in meltwater coming from the cirque above.

From Washington Times • Dec. 11, 2020

Beneath my Vibram soles the wall fell away for three thousand feet to the dirty, avalanche-scarred cirque of the Witches Cauldron Glacier.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

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.