scree

American  

[skree] / skri /

noun

1. a steep mass of detritus on the side of a mountain.

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scree British  

/ skriː /

noun

1. Also called: talus.  an accumulation of weathered rock fragments at the foot of a cliff or hillside, often forming a sloping heap

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Etymology

Origin of scree

First recorded in 1775–85, scree is from the Old Norse word skritha landslide

Example Sentences

Above 13,000 feet, the trail disappears, turning the final push into a steep, tortuous slog up loose scree guided only by cairns — stone towers left by previous climbers to mark the way.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 2, 2023

Up in the mountains, they cling to “pockets in shifting scree, where gravel and rocks form barely the idea of soil,” Chips said.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 9, 2023

They parked on the far edge of the outcrop, then continued on foot through a sloping scree field of glassy black stone until they reached a view of the mud flats to the east.

From Salon • Jul. 7, 2023

To get there, we first had to descend along a trail that switchbacked down a sheer slope of unstable scree.

From New York Times • Apr. 27, 2022

The going was loose and he was heavy, and more than once the scree shifted under his feet and carried him down again in a scramble of dust and gravel.

From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman

Related Words

• rubble