crevasse

American  

[kruh-vas] / krəˈvæs /

noun

1. a fissure, or deep cleft, in glacial ice, the earth's surface, etc.

2. a breach in an embankment or levee.

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verb (used with object)

crevassed, crevassing

1. to fissure with crevasses.

crevasse British  

/ krɪˈvæs /

noun

1. a deep crack or fissure, esp in the ice of a glacier

2. a break in a river embankment

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verb

1. (tr) to make a break or fissure in (a dyke, wall, etc)

crevasse Scientific  

/ krĭ-văs′ /

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.

4. ◆ 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.

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Other Word Forms

• uncrevassed adjective

Etymology

Origin of crevasse

1805–15, < French; see crevice

Compare meaning

How does crevasse compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• crevasse vs. crevice

Explanation

If you're heading to the North Pole by sled, watch out you don't fall into a crevasse — a deep fissure or crack in the snow or ice. Similar to the term "crevice," though "crevice" usually refers to a fissure in a rock face. Neither one is a nice place to get stuck. The word crevasse, as its spelling suggests, comes from an old French word, the verb crevare, meaning "to burst or break," and indicating how a crevasse was formed in the first place. The reason for the difference in the two terms, crevasse and crevice, was originally to indicate a difference in size: in general a crevasse is much larger than a crevice, which can often be extremely small.

Example Sentences

The dragon will give Mae the flower, but first she must rescue his son, which has fallen down a crevasse.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025

While repelling a mountain wall, Mr Huserka’s thread cracked and he fell into an ice crevasse, he partner said.

From BBC • Nov. 5, 2024

To Byatt, maternal mental health is not a gap but a crevasse.

From Salon • Sep. 10, 2024

Honnold wants to continue even as they approach the center of a crevasse field, where giant cracks in the surface, some hundreds of feet deep, are hard to spot until they’re nearly underfoot.

From New York Times • Mar. 29, 2024

In the sides of this crevasse were great shapes of ice, and there was no bottom to it.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Related Words

• abyss
• chasm
• fissure