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scarp

 - 3 dictionary results

scarp

  [skahrp]
Use scarp in a Sentence
–noun
1. a line of cliffs formed by the faulting or fracturing of the earth's crust; an escarpment.
2. Fortification. an escarp.
–verb (used with object)
3. to form or cut into a steep slope.
Origin:
1580–90; < It scarpa a slope. See escarp
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To scarp
scarp   (skärp)   
n.  An escarpment.
tr.v.   scarped, scarp·ing, scarps
To cut or make into an escarpment.

[Italian scarpa, slope, perhaps of Germanic origin; see sker-1 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

scarp 
"steep slope," 1589, from It. scarpa "slope," probably from a Gmc. source (cf. M.H.G. schroffe "sharp rock, crag," O.E. scræf "cave, grave"). Fr. escarpe is from It.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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