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

He is best known for developing the "ice stupa" - an artificial cone-shaped glacier inspired by Buddhist stupas - that stores water during winter and releases it in late spring, when farmers need it most.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

The samples revealed "unique algal communities" on different ice and snow surfaces – challenging the assumption that Antarctic glacier ecosystems will respond uniformly to global warming.

From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026

Once the reflective white snow coverage from winter is gone from the top of the glacier, the darker, more absorbent grey surface of the bare ice is exposed.

From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026

The fairways may be wide and forgiving, but hitting at the greens can feel like trying to land the ball on a glacier.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

Far off, at the other end of the glacier, a dark smudge stretched along the horizon.

From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown

He said this year had seen 25 percent less snow replenishing the surface of the glaciers compared to the 2010-2020 figures.

From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026

Huss said Switzerland had already lost 1,200 glaciers in the past 50 years, and there now only 1,300 left.

From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026

"Now that those lower glaciers have completely vanished into a desert of dry rock, there is nothing left at the top to melt," he says.

From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026

Global warming means that the smaller, low altitude glaciers they relied on to water their crops have disappeared.

From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026

“Unfair? You can breathe underwater and blow up glaciers and summon freaking hurricanes—and it’s unfair that I can be an elephant?”

From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan

Related Words

• ice floe
• iceberg