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

Suddenly he disappeared into a crevasse, leaving a hole behind him.

From BBC • Aug. 11, 2025

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

Beau disappeared over the edge into the crevasse.

From "The Honest Truth" by Dan Gemeinhart

Related Words

• abyss
• chasm
• fissure