glacier

American  

[glay-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

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Etymology

Origin of glacier

1735–45; < dialectal French, derivative of Old French glace ice < Late Latin glacia (for Latin glaciēs )

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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

But a curious pattern has emerged in recent years: Multiple major landslides have occurred precisely at the terminus of a retreating glacier.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2026

The device comes in black, silver, burgundy and glacier, and the smaller model provides up to 24 hours of charge, while the larger phone offers up to 30 hours.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026

The explosion has triggered more movement, with another glacier headed toward Alaska.

From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026

The sea level is rising at a record pace, driven by warming oceans and glacier melt, according to a UN report.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

His eyes were blue-white, like core samples from a glacier, and just as cold.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

The winter of 2025 to 2026 ranked among Switzerland's ten least snowy winters since records began, leaving glaciers with less snow to protect them from warmer temperatures.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2026

Landslides are common in the coastal mountains of Alaska where rapid uplift, caused by tectonic forces and long-term ice loss, converges with the erosive forces of precipitation and moving glaciers.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2026

Experts say the retreat of glaciers can cause glacial lakes to expand, increasing the risk of sudden, potentially devastating floods that can cross borders into countries such as Nepal, India and Bhutan.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

In 2009, India and China agreed to undertake joint research into the impact of global warming on glaciers in the Himalayas and Tibet.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

There are no Alpine peaks or grinding glaciers, no great deposits of oil or precious metals, not a hint of a pyroclastic flow.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

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Related Words

• ice floe
• iceberg

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