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 )

Explanation

A glacier is a very large ice mass, sometimes miles and miles long. Glaciers might not seem all that exciting at first, but people are paying close attention to them because their melting is an indication of climate change. Most glaciers on Earth are found around the North and South poles, but every continent except for Australia has glaciers somewhere in its high mountain ranges. People often want to go see glaciers because they're beautiful, and some you can actually hike across. Luckily, if you get thirsty glaciers are the planet’s largest reservoir of freshwater. You’ll just have to find some way of melting them . . .

Example Sentences

Researchers found that the glacier lost not only this floating ice tongue, but also a large section of grounded ice resting on a flat area of bedrock.

From Science Daily • May 19, 2026

By 2011, landfast sea ice in the Larsen B embayment near Hektoria's terminus had expanded enough to provide temporary support, allowing the glacier to slowly advance once again.

From Science Daily • May 19, 2026

Between blocks of talks, attendees partake in activities from the glacier show-and-tell to an iNaturalist BioBlitz in Stanley Park to a field trip to the local Renaissance faire.

From Slate • May 8, 2026

By this stage in April they would normally have fixed the route as far as Camp 3, but are still blocked by the chunk of glacier about 600m below Camp 1.

From BBC • Apr. 23, 2026

Then the ice of the glacier fell into the crater.

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone

Related Words

• ice floe
• iceberg