esker

[ es-ker ]

See synonyms for esker on Thesaurus.com

nounGeology.

a serpentine ridge of gravelly and sandy drift, believed to have been formed by streams under or in glacial ice.

Origin of esker

First recorded in 1850–55, esker is from the Irish word eiscir ridge of mountains

Words Nearby esker

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use esker in a sentence

Behind the terminal moraines lie wide till plains, in places studded thickly with drumlins, or ridged with an occasional esker.
The Elements of Geology | William Harmon Norton
And he went to the friars at esker to take it off of him, and they took it off.
Visions and Beliefs in the West of Ireland, First Series | Lady Gregory
The esker friars used to do great cures—Father Callaghan was the best of them.
Visions and Beliefs in the West of Ireland, Second Series | Lady Gregory
I often saw Father Callaghan in esker and the people brought to him in carts.
Visions and Beliefs in the West of Ireland, Second Series | Lady Gregory
I'll be bound he's on the esker, looking afther the sheep, poor crathurs, durin' Andy Connor's illness in the small-pock.
The Dead Boxer | William Carleton

British Dictionary definitions for esker

esker

eskar (ˈɛskɑː, -kə)

/ (ˈɛskə) /

noun

a long winding ridge of gravel, sand, etc, originally deposited by a meltwater stream running under a glacier: Also called: os

Origin of esker

C19: from Old Irish escir ridge

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 esker

esker

[ ĕs′kər ]

A long, narrow, steep-sided ridge of coarse sand and gravel deposited by a stream flowing in or under a melting sheet of glacial ice. Eskers range in height from 3 m (9.8 ft) to more than 200 m (656 ft) and in length from less than 100 m (328 ft) to more than 500 km (310 mi).

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