Illustration of cirque
- cirque 3
1
archaic
: circus
3
: a deep steep-walled basin on a mountain usually forming the blunt end of a valley
Examples of cirque in a Sentence
the harvest moon was a glowing cirque in autumn sky
Recent Examples on the Web
Out there and to not descend down into the cirque Lake, but to ride this ridge out just on and on and on and on.
—
Outside Online, 29 Oct. 2025
The hike to the cirque and back to the trailhead is six miles.
—Maryam Siddiqi, Travel + Leisure, 1 Oct. 2025
Throughout the run beneath the cirque of the Continental Divide, cruising up a gradual ascent towards a glacier-fed lake, my Overland Half Tight shorts remained comfortable.
—Lisa Jhung, Outside, 14 Aug. 2025
Ditch the giant Hula-Hoop in Vegas Even though Fremont Street’s pedestrian mall resembles a circus, the Las Vegas City Council does not permit such cirque contraptions as unicycles or Hula-Hoops wider than 4 feet.
—The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cirque
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Outside Online, 29 Oct. 2025
The hike to the cirque and back to the trailhead is six miles.
—Maryam Siddiqi, Travel + Leisure, 1 Oct. 2025
Throughout the run beneath the cirque of the Continental Divide, cruising up a gradual ascent towards a glacier-fed lake, my Overland Half Tight shorts remained comfortable.
—Lisa Jhung, Outside, 14 Aug. 2025
Ditch the giant Hula-Hoop in Vegas Even though Fremont Street’s pedestrian mall resembles a circus, the Las Vegas City Council does not permit such cirque contraptions as unicycles or Hula-Hoops wider than 4 feet.
—The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cirque
Cite this Entry
“Cirque.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cirque. Accessed 23 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
cirque
noun
: a deep basin on a mountain that is shaped like half a bowl
Etymology
French, from Latin circus "circle, arena"
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