canyon

can·yon

noun \ˈkan-yən\

Definition of CANYON

1

: a deep narrow valley with steep sides and often with a stream flowing through it

2

: something resembling a canyon <the city's concrete canyons>

Variants of CANYON

can·yon also ca·ñon \ˈkan-yən\

Examples of CANYON

1. <as the scouts made their way through the canyon, they marveled at the sheer walls of rock on both sides>

Origin of CANYON

American Spanish cañón, probably alteration of obsolete Spanish callón, augmentative of calle street, from Latin callis footpath

First Known Use: 1834

Related to CANYON

Synonyms: col, couloir, defile, flume, gap, gill [British], gorge, gulch, gulf, kloof [South African], linn [chiefly Scottish], notch, pass, ravine, saddle

Related Words: abyss, chasm, cirque, cleft, crevasse, crevice, cwm [chiefly British], fissure; combe (also coombe or coomb) [British], dale, dell, glen, hollow, shut-in, vale, valley; basin, floodplain, kettle; arroyo, barranca (also barranco), coulee, draw, gully (also gulley), gutter, nullah, trench, trough, wadi, wash [West]

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Other Geology Terms

anthracite, boulder, cwm, erratic, igneous, intrusive, mesa, sedimentary, silt, swale

Rhymes with CANYON

banyan