glacier

American  

[gley-sher] / ˈgleɪ ʃər /

noun

1. an extended mass of ice formed from snow falling and accumulating over the years and moving very slowly, either descending from high mountains, as in valley glaciers, or moving outward from centers of accumulation, as in continental glaciers.

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glacier British  

/ ˈɡlæsɪə, ˈɡleɪs- /

noun

1. a slowly moving mass of ice originating from an accumulation of snow. It can either spread out from a central mass ( continental glacier ) or descend from a high valley ( alpine glacier )

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glacier Scientific  

/ glā′shər /

1. A large mass of ice moving very slowly through a valley or spreading outward from a center. Glaciers form over many years from packed snow in areas where snow accumulates faster than it melts. A glacier is always moving, but when its forward edge melts faster than the ice behind it advances, the glacier as a whole shrinks backward.

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glacier Cultural  

1. A large mass of ice formed over many years that does not melt during the summer. Glaciers move slowly over an area of land such as a mountain valley.

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Discover More

A significant percentage of the water of the Earth is locked up in glaciers.

Glaciers exist in high mountains throughout the temperate zones and cover most of Antarctica. Glaciers recede during warm periods and can expand during cold periods, creating ice ages.

Other Word Forms

• glaciered adjective

Etymology

Origin of glacier

1735–45; < dialectal French, derivative of Old French glace ice < Late Latin glacia (for Latin glaciēs )

Example Sentences

As these sudden drainages took place, the glacier surface began to fracture in unexpected ways.

From Science Daily

Don’t forget Canada’s zombie wildfires, the Texas floods, the late autumn Southwest heat waves, the calving Doomsday glacier and on and on.

From Salon

These included vibrations from small earthquakes, glacier motion, slope deformation, and other sources of seismic background noise.

From Science Daily

When scientists focus on the number of individual glaciers that are vanishing, rather than total ice volume, they find that the Alps could reach their highest rate of glacier loss between 2033 and 2041.

From Science Daily

“There was snow on the roof that he fell from. I saw his footprints,” says Smilla, who has experience exploring glaciers.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• ice floe
• iceberg