scarp
Americannoun
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a line of cliffs formed by the faulting or fracturing of the earth's crust; an escarpment.
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Fortification. an escarp.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a steep slope, esp one formed by erosion or faulting; escarpment See also cuesta
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fortifications the side of a ditch cut nearest to and immediately below a rampart
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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scarpsimple
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scarpssimple
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have scarpedperfect
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has scarpedperfect
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am scarpingprogressive
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are scarpingprogressive
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is scarpingprogressive
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have been scarpingperfect progressive
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has been scarpingperfect progressive
Past
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scarpedsimple
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had scarpedperfect
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was scarpingprogressive
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were scarpingprogressive
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had been scarpingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of scarp
First recorded in 1580–90, scarp is from the Italian word scarpa a slope. See escarp
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Stewart hasn’t visited the site, but said a large head scarp, which marks the top of a landslide, is visible in photos of the area, “indicating substantial movement” that could have ruptured the pipeline.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 29, 2025
"The conclusion we came to is: don't build right on top of a scarp, or recently active fault. The farther away from a scarp, the lesser the hazard."
From Science Daily ● Dec. 7, 2025
Lobate scarp, with visible grabens on its crest.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2023
On the bare dune, a similar scarp formed after nearly 18 hours, but it was less than half the height.
From Science Magazine ● Jun. 15, 2023
And Lee sat and watched helplessly as the zeppelin flew on directly into a scarp of the mountains that rose up before them.
From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman
SMRs form from the same compressional forces that create lobate scarps.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 18, 2026
However, lobate scarps do not explain all of the Moon's relatively recent contraction features.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 18, 2026
When combined with existing data on lobate scarps, the new SMR catalog offers a far more complete picture of the Moon's recent contraction and tectonic evolution.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 18, 2026
“Landslide movement continues to manifest at the ground surface in the form of scarps, fissures, grabens/sinkholes, tensional cracking, shear zones and thrust features,” the city’s latest report said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2024
To the east and west were more mountains, great jagged peaks thrusting sharply upward, their scarps piled high with snow and raked by the wind into bladelike edges as sharp as scimitars.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
There, where the scarped cliffside reaches the clouds and the water plunges to the depths of the Grand Canyon, sits one of Norway’s most picturesque villages, Geiranger.
From National Geographic ● Oct. 20, 2023
It was a quaint caravan which next morning scarped the north-eastern shoulder of the T’Oums Mountain, in search of El Dorado.
From Lodges in the Wilderness by Scully, W. C. (William Charles)
The shrine of Ek-Linga is situated in a defile about six miles north of Oodipoor, the hills towering around on all sides are of the primitive formation, and their scarped summits are clustered with honeycombs.
From Phallic Miscellanies Facts and Phases of Ancient and Modern Sex Worship, as Illustrated Chiefly in the Religions of India by Jennings, Hargrave
The hill on which the fort stands is ship-shaped and some miles long, and, from a distance, every inch appears to be scarped and guarded.
From From Sea to Sea Letters of Travel by Kipling, Rudyard
Geology.—On entering the county at the south, a scarped barrier of hills is seen beyond the Lagan valley, marking the edge of the basaltic plateaus, and running almost continuously round the coast to Red Bay.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 2 "Anjar" to "Apollo" by Various
Another feature of the Ziscaberg, already hinted at, is very notable: that of the Moldau skirting its northern base, and scarping the Hill, on that side too, into a precipitous, or very steep condition.
From History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 18 by Carlyle, Thomas
A terrible scarping wind, whose very breath was bitterness to flesh and blood, blatant and unresting, filled the valley with a strange voice and life.
From Heriot's Choice A Tale by Carey, Rosa Nouchette
The mountain was so steep that our ponies could only ascend by scarping, zigzag fashion.
From By Veldt and Kopje by Scully, W. C. (William Charles)
Already, on the heights of Montmartre, is a digging and delving; too like a scarping and trenching.
From The French Revolution by Carlyle, Thomas
Soon afterwards, however, nothing could be heard except a furious scratching, the sound of metal scarping at the plaster.
From The Fat and the Thin by Vizetelly, Ernest Alfred
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
