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
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
The Anchorage Daily News reported that the slide area is a mountain cirque in backcountry terrain that is only accessible by air.
—Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY, 6 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cirque
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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
The Anchorage Daily News reported that the slide area is a mountain cirque in backcountry terrain that is only accessible by air.
—Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY, 6 Mar. 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 8 Oct. 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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