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Synonyms

cirque

American  
[surk] / sɜrk /

noun

  1. circle; ring.

  2. a bowl-shaped, steep-walled mountain basin carved by glaciation, often containing a small, round lake.

cirque British  
/ sɜːk /

noun

  1. Also called: corrie.   cwm.  a semicircular or crescent-shaped basin with steep sides and a gently sloping floor formed in mountainous regions by the erosive action of a glacier

  2. archaeol an obsolete term for circle

  3. poetic a circle, circlet, or ring

"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
cirque Scientific  
/ sûrk /

  1. A steep, amphitheatre-shaped hollow occurring at the upper end of a mountain valley, especially one forming the head of a glacier or stream. Cirques are formed by the erosive activity of glaciers and often contain a small lake.

Etymology

Origin of cirque

1595–1605; < French < Latin circus; circus

Explanation

A cirque is a bowl-shaped indentation carved into the side or top of a mountain by a glacier. In warmer conditions, cirques gradually fill with water to form small, deep lakes called tarns. A cirque can also be called a corrie. North America has several of these steep-sided natural basins, including the Iceberg Cirque in Glacier National Park and Cirque of the Towers in Wyoming. The rounded shape of a cirque is often described as resembling an amphitheater or an armchair, with one lower edge. Cirques are carved out of the top or side of a mountain by glacial ice, which slowly moves, carving away the bedrock. Cirque means "circle" in French.

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Mann also took her cues from Teatro ZinZanni, a cirque entertainment show inside the Lotte Hotel Seattle that is celebrating 25 years.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 2, 2023

The trail takes you through aspen, birch and pine groves until it reaches a small basalt column cirque with a peaceful waterfall.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 6, 2021

It was a wilder place with water cascading unpredictably from a glacial tundra cirque.

From Washington Times • Sep. 13, 2020

When we crested a ridge and reached the dry side of the island, the clouds broke and we could see the mountain town of Cilaos, named for the cirque that surrounds it, far below.

From New York Times • Dec. 23, 2019

Beneath my Vibram soles the wall fell away for three thousand feet to the dirty, avalanche-scarred cirque of the Witches Cauldron Glacier.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.