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

Scientists believe the flood was sparked by a partial glacier collapse on a Nepalese mountain that sent an avalanche of ice and rock into a valley.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

China's state news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday that experts had said "a glacier on the southern slope of Lirung Peak in Nepal" fractured, triggering an ice-rock avalanche.

From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026

A glacial earthquake is created when tall, thin icebergs fall off the end of a glacier into the ocean.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026

"When we measure the gravitational acceleration over the rock glacier, we see a larger decrease in that gravitational acceleration as we make measurements over areas with thicker ice."

From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026

No; it was St. John Rivers, who, lifting the latch, came in out of the frozen hurricane—the howling darkness—and stood before me: the cloak that covered his tall figure all white as a glacier.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

Melting glaciers and thawing permafrost can also destabilise mountain slopes, increasing the risk of landslides and other hazards.

From Barron's ● Aug. 29, 2026

"In the Wasatch, the mountains themselves are eroding and burying the snow, and that's why the rock glaciers exist," Anderson noted.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026

First protected in 1864, Yosemite National Park in California's Sierra Nevada mountains is internationally acclaimed for its spectacular granite cliffs, glaciers, waterfalls, sequoia trees and wildlife.

From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026

Instead, they are reservoirs of frozen water that developed during the thousands of years after the major Ice Age glaciers disappeared.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026

Voices or the tolling of bells or glaciers cleaving in two or cliffs crumbling to dust.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee

Related Words

• ice floe
• iceberg