snowfield

American  

[snoh-feeld] / ˈsnoʊˌfild /

noun

Geology.

1. a large and relatively permanent expanse of snow.

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snowfield British  

/ ˈsnəʊˌfiːld /

noun

1. a large area of permanent snow

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snowfield Scientific  

/ snō′fēld′ /

1. A large expanse of snow, usually with a smooth and uniform surface, and especially at the head of a glacier.

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Etymology

Origin of snowfield

First recorded in 1835–45; snow + field

Example Sentences

Above the Swiss village of Saas Fee, a path leading to a mountain hut once passed through a summer snowfield on top of the Chessjen Glacier.

From Reuters • Jul. 26, 2022

A glacier can “disappear” when it ceases to move, at which point it will stop being classified as a glacier and become an ice patch or a perennial snowfield.

From Seattle Times • May 3, 2022

We walked to the edge of a snowfield and wandered between the few, weather-stunted trees.

From Washington Post • Jul. 29, 2021

But he was rarely hurt seriously, a testament perhaps to fine judgments: How to cross a snowfield that might conceal a crevasse?

From New York Times • Oct. 31, 2017

A shaggy beard covered his cheeks and neck, but the hair would not grow over the scar, so a shiny seam of puckered, twisted flesh divided his face like a crevasse through a snowfield.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin