crevasse

[ kruh-vas ]
See synonyms for: crevassecrevasses on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a fissure, or deep cleft, in glacial ice, the earth's surface, etc.

  2. a breach in an embankment or levee.

verb (used with object),cre·vassed, cre·vas·sing.
  1. to fissure with crevasses.

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Origin of crevasse

1
1805–15, Americanism;<French; see crevice

Other words from crevasse

  • un·cre·vassed, adjective

Words that may be confused with crevasse

Words Nearby crevasse

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How to use crevasse in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for crevasse

crevasse

/ (krɪˈvæs) /


noun
  1. a deep crack or fissure, esp in the ice of a glacier

  2. US a break in a river embankment

verb
  1. (tr) US to make a break or fissure in (a dyke, wall, etc)

Origin of crevasse

1
C19: from French: crevice

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 crevasse

crevasse

[ krĭ-văs ]


  1. A deep fissure in a glacier or other body of ice. Crevasses are usually caused by differential movement of parts of the ice over an uneven topography.

  2. A large, deep fissure in the Earth caused by an earthquake.

  1. A wide crack or breach in the bank of a river. Crevasses usually form during floods.♦ The sediments that spill out through the crevasse and fan out along the external margin of the river's bank form a crevasse splay deposit.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.