pingo

American  

[ping-goh] / ˈpɪŋ goʊ /

noun

Geology.

pingos plural

1. a hill of soil-covered ice pushed up by hydrostatic pressure in an area of permafrost.

2. a hill of similar origin remaining after the melting of permafrost.

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pingo British  

/ ˈpɪŋɡəʊ /

noun

1. a mound of earth or gravel formed through pressure from a layer of water trapped between newly frozen ice and underlying permafrost in Arctic regions

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pingo Scientific  

/ pĭng′gō /

pingos plural

1. A large mound or dome of ice covered with soil. Pingos are about 30 to 50 m (98 to 164 ft) high and up to 400 m (1,312 ft) in diameter and are found in Arctic regions. They are believed to form in basins (such as drained lake beds) as a result of the freezing and upward expansion of water held in subsurface soil, which initiates the doming, as well as by the rising and freezing of water trapped beneath or within the permafrost, as a result of hydrostatic pressure.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pingos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of pingo

First recorded in 1925–30, pingo is from the Inuit word pinguq

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pingo pingos

The weight is slung at either end of the pingo, and the elasticity of the wood accommodates itself to the spring of each step, thereby reducing the dead weight of the load.

From Eight Years' Wanderings in Ceylon by Baker, Samuel White, Sir

For example:— pingo pictum picture suggests to paint. caveo cautum caution „  „ beware. colo cultum culture „  „ till. fallo falsum false „  „ deceive.

From Helps to Latin Translation at Sight by Luce, Edmund

He addresses his works to the people of every country and every age; he calls upon posterity to be his spectators, and says with Zeuxis, In æternitatem pingo.

From Seven Discourses on Art by Morley, Henry

For a further account of the pingo see Vol.

From Ceylon; an Account of the Island Physical, Historical, and Topographical with Notices of Its Natural History, Antiquities and Productions, Volume 1 by Tennent, James Emerson, Sir

The team also discovered mounds in the sea floor — known as pingos — created by methane gas that has pushed towards the surface.

From Nature ● May 31, 2017

This flow of methane created pingos, many of which would eventually burst.

From Nature ● May 31, 2017

Then he and his friends invited us to stay in their village, in an empty hut reserved for travelers, and go on a hunt in the forest with them for pingos.

From New York Times ● Sep. 16, 2011

This is the toughest and most pliable of all the palm-woods, and is principally used by the natives in making "pingos."

From Eight Years' Wanderings in Ceylon by Baker, Samuel White, Sir