cirque Hear it!

cirque Definition

cirque (sʉrk)

noun

  1. a circular space or arrangement
  2. Old Poet. a circle; ring
  3. Archaic a circus
  4. Geol. a steep, hollow excavation high on a mountainside, made by glacial erosion; natural amphitheater

Etymology: Fr < L circus: see circus

cirque Usage Examples

Adjective modifier

  • huge: This is a huge cirque - views off to snow mounts south - all empty bar me.
  • great: The Barranco Camp was very pleasant and open, nestling in the great cirque of rock at the head of the Great Barranco.
  • beautiful: Returning to practicalities I recalled Bill's problem in 1939, in gaining this beautiful little cirque, as being similar in some respects.
  • little: Returning to practicalities I recalled Bill's problem in 1939, in gaining this beautiful little cirque, as being similar in some respects.
  • magnificent: Again, there is a magnificent glacier cirque at the valley head.

Modifies a noun

  • glacier: Easdale Tarn lies in a rock basin that was formed by a cirque glacier perched high up above the main valley of Far Easdale.