as in canyon
a narrow opening between hillsides or mountains that can be used for passage
at one point the steep, ice-encrusted walls of the couloir are no more than 50 feet apart
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of couloir
Many of these ski lines are clustered in the same drainages, but while in years past Noyes has been able to complete multiple descents in a day, this year, the hot April sun shortened the windows during which those couloirs would be safe from wet avalanches.
—
Jake Stern, Outside Online, 25 Apr. 2025
For more than eight hours, rescuers worked to reach the hikers and lower them from the couloir.
—Daniella Segura, Sacramento Bee, 27 May 2024
In August, 21-year-old Jadyn Weiss fell 300 feet to her death while descending a steep mountain gully known as the Flying Dutchman couloir.
—Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 2 Oct. 2023
Rivulets and rocks made the couloir treacherous.
—Los Angeles Times, 28 Feb. 2023
That includes backcountry boarding and skiing with friends, ice climbing, snowshoeing, hiking and climbing couloirs.
—Chris Meehan, Popular Mechanics, 27 Feb. 2023
Jake Stern, Outside Online, 25 Apr. 2025
For more than eight hours, rescuers worked to reach the hikers and lower them from the couloir.
—Daniella Segura, Sacramento Bee, 27 May 2024
In August, 21-year-old Jadyn Weiss fell 300 feet to her death while descending a steep mountain gully known as the Flying Dutchman couloir.
—Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 2 Oct. 2023
Rivulets and rocks made the couloir treacherous.
—Los Angeles Times, 28 Feb. 2023
That includes backcountry boarding and skiing with friends, ice climbing, snowshoeing, hiking and climbing couloirs.
—Chris Meehan, Popular Mechanics, 27 Feb. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for couloir
Noun
-
The couple had come up from their Sun City home in metro Phoenix in spring to shuttle rim-to-rim canyon hikers to their vehicles, hoping to escape the summer heat like many of their clients.—
Brandon Loomis,
AZCentral.com,
5 Oct. 2025
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Try the roughly two-mile Hickman Bridge Trail to admire the canyon and walk beneath the 300-foot Hickman Bridge, a natural sandstone arch.—
Stephanie Vermillion,
Travel + Leisure,
5 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Of course, Tom finds him first and inanely yells his name across the ravine.—
Grace Byron,
Vulture,
6 Oct. 2025
-
From the top of a lift, the three of us descended 4,800 feet into a ravine that, over the course of two hours, funneled us to Refugio Frey.—
Scott Yorko,
Travel + Leisure,
4 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Trey Moore is a local paddler who knows just about every corner of the Nolichucky gorge.—
Rolando Arrieta,
NPR,
29 Sep. 2025
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It was imported from the neighboring island in its entirety and features open sides that allow for spectacular vistas of the river gorge under the stunning morning light.—
Kathryn Romeyn,
Travel + Leisure,
28 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Couloir.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/couloir. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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