as in cliff
a steep wall of rock, earth, or ice
the castle sits atop an escarpment that for hundreds of years made it virtually invulnerable to attack
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of escarpment
This park is all escarpments, rivers, and old forests.
—
Daniel Scheffler, Forbes.com, 12 Sep. 2025
On the eastern side of the escarpment near Noto Canyon is a deposit of sediment reaching up to 800 meters thick.
—Elizabeth Fernandez, Big Think, 4 Sep. 2025
The escarpment is a line of cliffs and steep hills created by a geologic fault, Sharif said.
—Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 6 July 2025
The main issue was accessibility, or lack thereof, thanks to the combination of rugged mountains and a massive escarpment that cut the place off from the world.
—Ned Zeman, Outside, 14 Nov. 2021
See All Example Sentences for escarpment
Daniel Scheffler, Forbes.com, 12 Sep. 2025
On the eastern side of the escarpment near Noto Canyon is a deposit of sediment reaching up to 800 meters thick.
—Elizabeth Fernandez, Big Think, 4 Sep. 2025
The escarpment is a line of cliffs and steep hills created by a geologic fault, Sharif said.
—Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 6 July 2025
The main issue was accessibility, or lack thereof, thanks to the combination of rugged mountains and a massive escarpment that cut the place off from the world.
—Ned Zeman, Outside, 14 Nov. 2021
See All Example Sentences for escarpment
Recent Examples of Synonyms for escarpment
Noun
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Construction fell off a cliff after the housing bubble burst over a decade ago and never really recovered.—
Andrea Riquier,
USA Today,
9 Nov. 2025
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In Zumaia, Ermita de San Telmo, an iconic stop on the Camino de Santiago, is a 16th-century church perched on the rocky Flysch cliffs made famous in Game of Thrones.—
Michelle Arellano Martin,
Travel + Leisure,
9 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Controlling passage through the palisade were twenty-one ornate gates, spaced approximately fifty kilometers apart, meant not only to curb immigration of Han Chinese and Koreans into Qing lands but also to limit movement of any natural resources out.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Nov. 2025
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The palisade walls and structural support beams that hold up the fort are made to look like wood but are constructed of concrete.—
Patrick Connolly,
The Orlando Sentinel,
1 June 2025
Noun
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Even overconfidence is easily understandable at the crag or climbing wall.—
Outside Online,
Outside Online,
19 Nov. 2025
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The climb is infamous for its heart-pumping switchbacks and vertiginous jaunt along a narrow sliver of crag.—
Stephanie Vermillion,
Travel + Leisure,
9 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Carlsbad’s city manager declared a local emergency Wednesday to expedite repairs to a storm drain system on an ocean bluff eroded by recent rains.—
Phil Diehl,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Jan. 2026
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Start this portion of the Florida National Scenic Trail—the Florida Trail, for short—from Southwest 79th Terrace in Jasper, then hike past cypress trees and limestone bluffs on the nearly eight-mile one-way trip to Holton Creek River Camp.—
Evie Carrick,
Travel + Leisure,
5 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Escarpment.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/escarpment. Accessed 9 Jan. 2026.
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