Definition of glacier
: a large body of ice moving slowly down a slope or valley or spreading outward on a land surface
Updated on: 28 Feb 2018
What's Trending Now
More Trending Words
Recent Examples of glacier from the Web
-
So in sum - new research is affirming that seas have risen quite rapidly in the planet's past, and that major glaciers have retreated quickly because their enormous size makes them potentially unstable.
-
When glaciers covered the top third of North America 26,000 years ago, the climate of modern-day Los Angeles was 6 to 11 degrees Fahrenheit cooler—comparable, in other words, to San Francisco.
-
Pluto has heavily cratered surfaces and features mountains of water ice, a hazy blue atmosphere and glaciers made of nitrogen gas, methane and carbon monoxide.
-
That would help him understand how weather influences the melting of tropical glaciers.
-
For instance, researchers reported that glaciers feeding Larsen B sped up following its collapse in 2002.
-
Since the 1850s, the number of glaciers here has gone from 150 to 25.
-
The winged insects live along streams fed by melting glaciers and snowfields.
-
Rebensburg clocked a combined time of one minute 55.2 seconds to triumph on the Rettenbach glacier for her 14th World Cup victory.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'glacier.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of glacier
French, from Middle French dialect (Franco-Provençal), from glace ice, from Latin glacies; akin to Latin gelu frost — more at cold
Other Geology Terms
anthracite, boulder, cwm, erratic, igneous, intrusive, mesa, sedimentary, silt, swale
GLACIER Defined for English Language Learners
Definition of glacier for English Language Learners
-
: a very large area of ice that moves slowly down a slope or valley or over a wide area of land
GLACIER Defined for Kids
Definition of glacier for Students
: a large body of ice moving slowly down a slope or over a wide area of land
Learn More about glacier
-
See words that rhyme with glacier Spanish Central: Translation of glacier Nglish: Translation of glacier for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of glacier for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about glacier
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up glacier? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
