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View synonyms for couloir

couloir

[ kool-wahr; French koo-lwar ]

noun

, plural cou·loirs [kool-, wahrz, koo-, lwar].
  1. a steep gorge or gully on the side of a mountain, especially in the Alps.


couloir

/ ˈkuːlwɑː; kulwar /

noun

  1. a deep gully on a mountain side, esp in the French Alps
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of couloir1

1850–55; < French: literally, colander < Late Latin cōlātōrium strainer, equivalent to Latin cōlā ( re ) to strain, filter + -tōrium -tory 2; coulee
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Word History and Origins

Origin of couloir1

C19: from French: corridor, from couler to pour; see coulee
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Example Sentences

The forecaster, Nick Burks, 37, was backcountry skiing on Gunsight Mountain in the Elkhorn Mountains in northeastern Oregon on March 6 when he triggered an avalanche at the top of a couloir, or crevasse, in the mountain, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center reported.

As of late March, the two remaining deceased climbers were assumed to be buried by additional snowfall and subsequent avalanches near the couloir’s base.

On Feb. 19, a group of six climbers were climbing a steep, narrow gully — called a couloir — on the peak near Leavenworth when an avalanche crashed down the mountainside.

The terrain on Colchuck’s northeast couloir made the small avalanche deadly.

At the time, Gyselinck did not know an avalanche the day prior had flushed four climbers 500 vertical feet down a steep gully on Colchuck Peak known as the northeast couloir.

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