Dictionary.com
definitions

glacier

[gley-sher]
See more synonyms for glacier on Thesaurus.com
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.

Origin of glacier

1735–45; < dialectal French, derivative of Old French glace ice < Late Latin glacia (for Latin glaciēs)
Related formsgla·ciered, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for glacier

iceberg, icecap, berg, floe

Examples from the Web for glacier

Contemporary Examples of glacier

Historical Examples of glacier

  • To me the most surprising was the Ice-Festival on the great skating-pool on the Kenia glacier.

    Freeland

    Theodor Hertzka

  • Lavinia was a glacier, moving majestically and freezing as it moved.

    Keziah Coffin

    Joseph C. Lincoln

  • And see the glisten of that glacier in the haze, like a star in the veil of a bride!

  • When we had rounded this point we came face to face with a glacier.

    Over the Rocky Mountains to Alaska

    Charles Warren Stoddard

  • "If we leave here the glacier will cover the caves and fill them with ice," he said.

    Space Prison

    Tom Godwin

British Dictionary definitions for glacier

glacier

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)

Word Origin for glacier

C18: from French (Savoy dialect), from Old French glace ice, from Late Latin glacia, from Latin glaciēs ice
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
Word Origin and History for glacier
n.

1744, from French glacier, from Savoy dialect glacière "moving mass of ice," from Old French glace "ice," from Vulgar Latin glacia (cf. Old Provençal glassa, Italian ghiaccia), from Latin glacies (see glacial).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
glacier in Science

glacier

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

glacier

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.

Note

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.

Note

A significant percentage of the water of the Earth is locked up in glaciers.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.