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crevasse Definition

cre·vasse (krə vas)

noun

  1. a deep crack or fissure, esp. in a glacier
  2. ☆ a break in the levee of a river, dike, etc.

Etymology: Fr < OFr crevace, crevice

transitive verb -·vassed, -·vass·ing

to make a crevasse or crevasses in

crevasse Synonyms

crevasse

n.

crevasse Usage Examples

Object

glacier: Sabretooth Pro Crampons offer high performance for mixed masters, whether you're climbing a heady thin pillar or crossing a sketchy crevassed glacier.

Converse of object

  • cross: The first expedition to the mountain in 2003 found it impossible to cross a large crevasse barring the summit.
  • avoid: A path marked by wands meanders over the glacier toward the tents avoiding the crevasses en route.
  • gape: I could see all of the dangers of the gaping crevasses on the glacier very easily and could cross or walk around them easily.
  • explore: You can follow Howard's adventures in the Antarctic, which will include camping overnight and exploring ice crevasses by reading his blog.
  • cover: And he said one of the most treacherous aspects of the trek was negotiating crevasses covered with thin layers of snow.

Adjective modifier

  • hidden: I had no rope and there were hidden crevasses ahead.
  • deep: About two hours later our path was blocked by a 1 1/2 meter wide deep crevasse.
  • large: Be sure to set camp away from tiny cracks, those possibly hiding the mouths of large crevasses.
  • several: We crossed over several crevasses on snow bridges as the route joined the upper Emmons Glacier, leading up past our previous highest point.
  • few: There are a few, very small crevasses, which are crossed easily.
  • bottomless: All these injuries, in a seemingly bottomless crevasse, many days from any discernable habitation on the side of an angry mountain.

Modifies a noun

  • rescue: For example: a climber may require an ascender for movement on a fixed rope or a pulley for crevasse rescue.
  • technique: You need to be familiar with crevasse rescue techniques, which can be gained on an Alpine Introduction course.
  • field: This left vast crevasse fields with no obvious way through.
  • system: We were able to traverse the initial serac band by entering the crevasse system and climbing out up a 45° ramp.
  • maze: Luckily, the weather held good and we won through the crevasse maze after 2 long days of 11 hours and 15 hours.
  • section: The next morning saw us on the road at 3am and passing through the most tricky crevasse section of the whole trip.

Modifying Another Word

heavily: Heavily crevassed area on a glacier where the descent is steep.

Noun used with modifier

ice: You can follow Howard's adventures in the Antarctic, which will include camping overnight and exploring ice crevasses by reading his blog.

Browse dictionary entries near crevasse

  1. crevalle
  2. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
  3. cretonne
  4. cretinism
  5. cretin
  6. Crete
  7. cretaceous
  8. cresylic
  9. cresting
  10. crestfallen
  1. crevice
  2. crew
  3. crew cut
  4. crew neck
  5. crewel
  6. crewelwork
  7. cri de coeur
  8. crib
  9. crib biting
  10. crib death