crevasse

noun

cre·​vasse kri-ˈvas How to pronounce crevasse (audio)
1
: a breach in a levee
2
: a deep crevice or fissure (as in a glacier or the earth)
The climber narrowly missed slipping into a crevasse.

Did you know?

What's the difference between a crevice and a crevasse?

Crevice and crevasse are very similar words: both come from Old French crever "to break or burst" and both refer to an opening of some kind. In fact, you can say that the only notable distinction between the two is the size of the openings they denote—and that one of them—crevice—is far more common than the other.

A crevice is a narrow opening resulting from a split or crack. In nature, crevices exist mostly in rocks and cliffs, but writers sometimes use the word for similar openings found in other materials, as in "crumbs in the crevices of the cushion." The word also is used metaphorically, as in "the cracks and crevices of memory."

Crevasse refers to a deep hole or fissure in a glacier or in the earth. In most instances, the word appears with enough context that the depth of the opening is easy enough to figure out, as in "a climber who fell 30 feet into a crevasse."

You'll sometimes find crevice used where crevasse is expected—probably because it's the word people are more familiar with. One way to remember the distinction between crevice and crevasse is that the i in crevice, the smaller hole, is a thinner letter than a in crevasse, the larger hole. Or, should you step into a crevasse, perhaps you'll have time for a lot of "Ahhhs"?

Examples of crevasse in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web There's a car jump across a giant crevasse that is just a once-in-a-lifetime stunt. EW.com, 2 Nov. 2023 The man was uninjured but trapped from the waist down in a crevasse along the cliff, San Diego Fire-Rescue said. Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 22 Dec. 2023 Glaciers are riddled with cracks in the ice sheet known as crevasses. Jen Murphy, Robb Report, 3 Feb. 2024 And as hotter summers bake away alpine ice, once-permanent glaciers reveal large unnavigable crevasses and areas prone to rockslide. Max G. Levy, WIRED, 20 Dec. 2023 Death is no stranger to Khumbu, whose soaring ice towers and deep crevasses have killed 47 people since 1953, but this was different. Timothy Bella, Washington Post, 9 Nov. 2023 In 2014, 16 Sherpas perished when a serac fell from the ridge and crashed onto a team fixing ladders across a crevasse. Frederick Dreier, Outside Online, 12 Apr. 2023 Spotting its icy peaks, mesmerizing chasms and crevasses up close gave a face to the climate change the land is experiencing, a sobering reminder of the fleeting nature of these natural wonders. Kayla Becker, Travel + Leisure, 28 Oct. 2023 As a result, seawater in this crevasse is freezing at the top, but melting at the opening. WIRED, 27 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'crevasse.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

French, from Old French crevace — see crevice

First Known Use

1813, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of crevasse was in 1813

Dictionary Entries Near crevasse

Cite this Entry

“Crevasse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crevasse. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

crevasse

noun
cre·​vasse kri-ˈvas How to pronounce crevasse (audio)
: a deep crevice (as in a glacier)
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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