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crevasse

 [kruh-vas]   Origin

cre·vasse

   [kruh-vas] noun, verb, cre·vassed, cre·vas·sing.
noun
1.
a fissure, or deep cleft, in glacial ice, the earth's surface, etc.
2.
a breach in an embankment or levee.
verb (used with object)
3.
to fissure with crevasses.

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to spend time idly; loaf.
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Origin:
1805–15, Americanism; < French; see crevice

Related forms
un·cre·vassed, adjective

Can be confused: crevice, crevasse.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
crevasse (krɪˈvæs)
 
—n
1.  a deep crack or fissure, esp in the ice of a glacier
2.  (US) a break in a river embankment
 
—vb
3.  (US) (tr) to make a break or fissure in (a dyke, wall, etc)
 
[C19: from French: crevice]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

crevasse
1823, of glaciers; 1814, of riverbanks (from Louisiana Fr.), from Fr. crevasse, from O.Fr. crevace "crevice" (see crevice). Essentially the same word as crevice, but re-adopted in senses for which the sense that had taken hold in crevice was felt to be too small.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
crevasse   (krĭ-vās')  Pronunciation Key 

  1. A deep fissure in a glacier or other body of ice. Crevasses are usually caused by differential movement of parts of the ice over an uneven topography.

  2. A large, deep fissure in the Earth caused by an earthquake.

  3. A wide crack or breach in the bank of a river. Crevasses usually form during floods. ◇ The sediments that spill out through the crevasse and fan out along the external margin of the river's bank form a crevasse splay deposit.


The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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