precipice

prec·i·pice

noun \ˈpre-s(ə-)pəs\

Definition of PRECIPICE

1

: a very steep or overhanging place

2

: a hazardous situation; broadly : brink

Examples of PRECIPICE

1. He stood on the edge of the precipice.
2. <scaled the steep precipice with the ease of an experienced climber>
3. Twenty years ago, it seemed unlikely that black and white South Africans could avoid a cataclysmic struggle. How did we manage to turn back from the precipice and join one another in the long walk to a nonracial democracy? —F. W. De Klerk, Time, 18 Apr. 2005
4. These are the brave, friendly guys and gals who flip, twist, spin and somersault themselves backward into the sky and somehow land on a horrifyingly steep precipice without rearranging their rib cages or breaking their faces. —Curry Kirkpatrick, Newsweek, 21 Feb. 1994
5. … the helpless Cambodians were bused from the safety of a refugee camp to an outcropping along the border several hundred miles to the northeast, where they were forced over the precipice into a wild and inaccessible part of Cambodia from which it would be almost impossible to return to Thailand. —Barbara Crossette, New York Times Book Review, 2 Aug. 1987

Origin of PRECIPICE

French, from Middle French, from Latin praecipitium, from praecipit-, praeceps headlong, from prae- + caput head — more at head

First Known Use: 1613

Related to PRECIPICE

Synonyms: barranca (also barranco), bluff, crag, escarpment, palisade, cliff, scar, scarp

Related Words: butte, cuesta, hogback, tor; bulwark, embankment; declivity, drop-off, pitch

[+]more[-]hide