cirque
[ surk ]
/ sɜrk /
noun
circle; ring.
a bowl-shaped, steep-walled mountain basin carved by glaciation, often containing a small, round lake.
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Nearby words
cire perdue, cirebon, cirenaica, cirencester, cirio, cirque, cirrate, cirrhi, cirrhogenous, cirrhosis, cirrhotic
Origin of cirque
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for cirque
British Dictionary definitions for cirque
cirque
/ (sɜːk) /
noun
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
archaeol an obsolete term for circle (def. 11)
poetic a circle, circlet, or ring
Word Origin for cirque
C17: from French, from Latin circus ring, circle, circus
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for cirque
cirque
c.1600, "a circus," from French cirque (14c.), from Latin circus (see circus). Cf. Italian and Spanish circo.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Science definitions for cirque
cirque
[ sûrk ]
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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.