hanging valley

noun

1. a valley, the lower end of which opens high above a shore, usually caused by the rapid erosion of a cliff.
2. a tributary valley whose mouth is set above the floor of the main valley, usually as a result of differences in glacial erosion.

hanging valley

noun

1. geography a tributary valley entering a main valley at a much higher level because of overdeepening of the main valley, esp by glacial erosion

hanging valley

/ hăng′ĭng /

1. A side valley that enters a main valley at an elevation high above the main valley floor. Hanging valleys are typically formed when the main valley has been widened and deepened by glacial erosion, leaving the side valley cut off abruptly from the main valley below. The steep drop from the hanging valley to the main valley floor usually creates cascading waterfalls.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hanging valley¹

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

In the front courtyard, they kept a 10-foot-tall Torch aloe, climbing rose and Eureka lemon tree and added a fountain, manzanita, Coyote Brush and further mallows that flower year-round — Hanging Valley, Apricot and Louis Hamilton Apricot.

From Los Angeles Times

We crossed the high, hanging valley of Miage, its soft belly mowed at the leisure of belled brown cattle; we made our way across the moonscape of barren moors below the Col du Bonhomme, its steep five-hour ascent across treeless expanses stippled with gentian, aster and flax; we approached from above the isolated mountain inns of Refuge des Mottets and Rifugio Elisabetta, their roofs of wet-slicked rough stone.

From New York Times

I was headed down the Valley Valley trail, a specific run in Hanging Valley, when I clicked out of one binding.

From Washington Times

“We had to stay a bit longer in a beautiful and legendary hanging valley and deal with a bit of uncertainty. Now … we understand just how lucky we’ve been and we are sad beyond words to learn how unlucky others have been.”

From Los Angeles Times

As students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland receive their results, here are some favourite excuses collected from the hanging valley of collective memory over the years.

From BBC