cirque

cirque  (sûrk) n. 1. A steep bowl-shaped hollow occurring at the upper end of a mountain valley, especially one forming the head of a glacier or stream. Also called cwm. 2. A ring; a circle. [French, from Latin circus, circle; see circle.]

cirque

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cirque [sɜːk]

n

1. (Earth Sciences / Physical Geography) Also called corrie cwm a semicircular or crescent-shaped basin with steep sides and a gently sloping floor formed in mountainous regions by the erosive action of a glacier

2. (Social Science / Archaeology) Archaeol an obsolete term for circle [11]

3. Poetic a circle, circlet, or ring

[from French, from Latin circus ring, circle, circus]

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cirque  (sûrk)

A steep, amphitheatre-shaped hollow occurring at the upper end of a mountain valley, especially one forming the head of a glacier or stream. Cirques are formed by the erosive activity of glaciers and often contain a small lake.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

cirque - a steep-walled semicircular basin in a mountain; may contain a lake corrie, cwm basin - a natural depression in the surface of the land often with a lake at the bottom of it; "the basin of the Great Salt Lake"