glacier

American  

[gley-sher] / ˈgleɪ ʃər /

noun

• glaciers
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• glaciered
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• glaciers
  plural

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

See Examples For:

glacier glaciers

Rasuwa saw deadly flooding last year that killed 18 people after a glacier burst on the Chinese side of the border.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

Their rarity and longevity make them especially valuable to researchers studying glacier retreat, changing ocean conditions and the risks posed by drifting ice in polar regions.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026

The rate of glacier shrinkage has been increasing globally since the 1990s and at a particularly accelerated rate since 2000, according to the European Commission's monitoring body Copernicus.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

In some locations, increased glacier melt could temporarily reduce the pace of groundwater decline around the 2060s.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

The icing sags and bunches out on one side like a slow-moving glacier, bringing tipping candles along with it.

From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson

Over time, those glaciers grew together to form the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026

He added: "Our work suggests that tectonic uplift related to continental rifting and breakup created both steep slopes and high ground, providing the mountainous terrain that rivers and glaciers could readily erode."

From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026

This exposed the ice beneath, leaving the glaciers vulnerable to melting faster in subsequent heatwaves.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

He takes time to let us hear what a glacier sounds like while showing the swirls of blue ice, but also what it looks like when glaciers collapse and vanish.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

Even Hazel, who’d seen glaciers before, couldn’t quite process what she was looking at.

From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan

Related Words

• ice floe
• iceberg